Whats the cheapest you have ever done Disney?

[indimom]

Oops, I just realized I made a major error in my calculations. I had been earning rewards since our previous trip in 2010, so THREE years, not two.

 

[Marionnette]

Oops, I just realized I made a major error in my calculations. I had been earning rewards since our previous trip in 2010, so THREE years, not two.

Even so, that was still a great accomplishment! Way to go!

 

[Freezing Maine Mama]

Our last trip was $2500 for a family of 4 including flights from Maine to FL. We had a free timeshare thanks to my mom and she brought her car. We ate offsite except for a few snacks in the park, and we got the military salute tickets. We stayed one night at the Pop century as well.

I want to go back sooooo badly, but our vacation budget is zero right now. I am trying to earn as many disney cards as I can from my disney visa and watching everywhere for the best deals. In Jan and Sept I can get military salute tickets, so my goal is another trip jan 2015, with a complete budget of $1500 including airfare..

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I have to say that DVC members and other timeshare owners who say that their accommodations cost them nothing are being disingenuous. It cost a lot to buy into a timeshare and it costs a lot more to pay those annual fees. Your costs are definitely not zero even if you didn't have to reach into your wallet and pay for your room directly.

The same goes for AP holders who say that their admission is free because the AP has "already paid for itself". The truth is, the AP will never truly pay for itself. However, your "cost per admission" is certainly lower when you visit more often.

And I'm saying this as someone who has both a PAP and DVC ownership! Maybe it's because doing the math is just too tedious for those things. And maybe it's because we like to fool ourselves into believing that those parts of our trip are "free". I did a breakdown of what my last trip cost me. Of the $530 that I spent on my trip last week, $230 could be attributed to what I spent on DVC and the pro-rated cost of my PAP. And that was for only 2 nights in an OKW studio and 3 days' worth of park admissions.

If you do it correctly you can say your DVC room is free. We've had our 2 contracts for 10 years spent $12k each. Return on investment was hit in 5 years of ownership. I rent out one of our contracts yearly and make $3000 on it. My yearly dues are $1000 total. I pocket $2000 a year. If we skip going a one year I rent both contracts and net nearly $5000 that year.

 

[Marionnette]

If you do it correctly you can say your DVC room is free. We've had our 2 contracts for 10 years spent $12k each. Return on investment was hit in 5 years of ownership. I rent out one of our contracts yearly and make $3000 on it. My yearly dues are $1000 total. I pocket $2000 a year. If we skip going a one year I rent both contracts and net nearly $5000 that year.

I don't buy into the DVC sales pitch that wants you to believe that you break even after 10 years of ownership. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you consider yourself "even" after 5 years of trips when you shelled out $24K for the contracts plus 5 years' worth of annual dues (around $4500-$5500, depending on your home resort)? About $30K for 5 years' worth of hotel stays? No tickets. No food. No airfare. Just $6K per year for 5 years for a villa and you call that "breaking even"?

Sorry, my math says that you spread that cost out over the life of the contract and the number of points in the contract. Then you throw in the current year's dues per point. Multiply the per-point cost by the number of points used for the vacation and THAT PRICE is the true cost of your DVC vacation. I consider THAT to be "doing it correctly". It's still much cheaper than paying the rack rate at a moderate, but it's not free, no matter how often you rent out your points.

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

In Sept 2007 when kids were only 6 & 2. 7 nights at POR with free dining was only $1800. That is when the dining plan included an appetizer and tips were included! We also flew from Jersey round trip for only $800. For us that is cheaper than a week at the shore!

 

[stasijane]

I went last year for 15 days. I have a AP so that really helped. I spent about $250 in gas, The first week I stayed off property the second week I stayed at the Boardwalk with a friend who is DVC The total for both was about $500 and I spent $600 while I was there. So $1350 for 15 days. Not bad if I do say so

 

[disney212]

4nights in December, used our frequent flyer miles so $12 each for RT flights, have PAP so no additional tickets, used TIW for dining and paid with our Visa reward dollars. We came home with reward dollars left. I know folks will say we paid for DVC with dues and such but we already recouped our purchase price (yes we would have stayed deluxe and paid cash if no DVC) so if we break it down by,nights stayed per year based on dues our price per night was about 50. We used our discounted DVC pass 29 days so that would be less than $14 per day park admission. Total cash out of pocket was less than $100. This is why we love our DVC!

 

[DawnM]

THAT is a good breakdown and honest.

I am a bit tired of the "We had APs and DVC so we didn't pay anything for the lodging or park tickets" comments.

4nights in December, used our frequent flyer miles so $12 each for RT flights, have PAP so no additional tickets, used TIW for dining and paid with our Visa reward dollars. We came home with reward dollars left. I know folks will say we paid for DVC with dues and such but we already recouped our purchase price (yes we would have stayed deluxe and paid cash if no DVC) so if we break it down by,nights stayed per year based on dues our price per night was about 50. We used our discounted DVC pass 29 days so that would be less than $14 per day park admission. Total cash out of pocket was less than $100. This is why we love our DVC!

 

[Marionnette]

THAT is a good breakdown and honest.

I am a bit tired of the "We had APs and DVC so we didn't pay anything for the lodging or park tickets" comments.

I am so with you on that! When I figured out the cost of my last trip, I pro-rated the cost of my PAP based on the number of days that it was/will be used this year. I also sat down and figured out what I paid in total for my DVC ownership (including closing costs and this year's member fees for the points used).

That portion of my PAP and the DVC stay nearly doubled the cost of my 3-night/4-day stay and I was flying for just $5, using Disney GCs purchased at Target to pay for my food and got a great deal at Living Social for airport parking.

I find the whole "my tickets and lodging were free because I have an AP and DVC" to be very misleading. I admit that having both help to keep the overall price of a trip down. But they really aren't "free".

 

[MEM]

I have to say that DVC members and other timeshare owners who say that their accommodations cost them nothing are being disingenuous. It cost a lot to buy into a timeshare and it costs a lot more to pay those annual fees. Your costs are definitely not zero even if you didn't have to reach into your wallet and pay for your room directly.

The same goes for AP holders who say that their admission is free because the AP has "already paid for itself". The truth is, the AP will never truly pay for itself. However, your "cost per admission" is certainly lower when you visit more often.

And I'm saying this as someone who has both a PAP and DVC ownership! Maybe it's because doing the math is just too tedious for those things. And maybe it's because we like to fool ourselves into believing that those parts of our trip are "free". I did a breakdown of what my last trip cost me. Of the $530 that I spent on my trip last week, $230 could be attributed to what I spent on DVC and the pro-rated cost of my PAP. And that was for only 2 nights in an OKW studio and 3 days' worth of park admissions.

I agree. We are DVC members and I estimate the cost of our lodging to be whatever the points would rent for. For example, one week in June in a 1 BR SV at Kidani would be 272 points or $2720 for lodging (about $400 a night for a Deluxe resort with full kitchen) . It keeps me honest about the money we are spending. With our DVC APs we divide the original cost by the number of days we end up going to the parks during the life of that AP.

 

[bbak3030]

Are you really seriously depressed? Is planning a Disney trip the only thing that is going to bring you joy? If that is the case, you need to see a doctor - not plan a trip. Your mental health is really important and vacations to adjust your mental health is a nice way to do things (that's why we have vacations), but if you live from one vacation to the next, that isn't healthy. If you are exaggerating, then never mind.

I was exaggerating.

 

[bbak3030]

Thanks for all the wonderful tips! We are going to the beach in July and then to Gatlinburg
for Thanksgiving, so I think I'm just being greedy.

My best friend wants to do a girls only trip in the fall, just maybe 4 days or so. I priced it out and we could stay 4 nights with hoppers for about $700 each. Free dining would be even better. And the. Would need to add flights. It's a thought. I would LOVE to go, just not sure how I feel about not bringing my girls.

Thanks again everyone!!!

 

[Pooh2]

We did a trip in Nov 2013 for under $2,000 for two of us.
SOG was booked Thanksgiving week so they booked us into CBR at a discounted rate for 7 nights (was bummed about SOG but thrilled to get a discount last minute for a holiday week!). They upgraded us to a preferred section.
We took Amtrak down on points, flew back at a decent rate.
All meals/snack/souvenirs were covered with disney reward dollars (previous trip had been nearly 5 years earlier so we had lots with some left for next time!).

 

[crazyventures]

I envy people living in areas where there are cheap flights!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I don't buy into the DVC sales pitch that wants you to believe that you break even after 10 years of ownership. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you consider yourself "even" after 5 years of trips when you shelled out $24K for the contracts plus 5 years' worth of annual dues (around $4500-$5500, depending on your home resort)? About $30K for 5 years' worth of hotel stays? No tickets. No food. No airfare. Just $6K per year for 5 years for a villa and you call that "breaking even"?

Sorry, my math says that you spread that cost out over the life of the contract and the number of points in the contract. Then you throw in the current year's dues per point. Multiply the per-point cost by the number of points used for the vacation and THAT PRICE is the true cost of your DVC vacation. I consider THAT to be "doing it correctly". It's still much cheaper than paying the rack rate at a moderate, but it's not free, no matter how often you rent out your points.

But what you fall to see is that in the 5 years I also made $15,000 for renting one contract, minus the $4500 average for the dues means I banked $10,500. and I also took 5 trips and 2 cruises in my 5 years.

So every time I booked a DVC trip, I also price what that exact trip would have cost if you were paying cash at the time of booking. I keep a log of how much we would have paid out of pocket if we did not have the DVC. The two cruises we took would have cost us $5,000 and $4700 to do a cruise . Right there was $9700 of the $24,000 we paid for the two contract. Now factor in that I made the $10500 profit so that leaves $3800. So in those 5 years I only had to have enough stays to cover the $3,800 break even point. Because remember I am still renting out my other contract and getting $3000 minus the $1000 yearly dues so I pocket $2,000 a year. Not to mention part of the money you pay in dues goes toward property taxes which is broken down on the yearly tax documents Disney sends you so you get to claim that on your taxes and get back about $75 on your taxes.

You just have to understand how to price the trip if paying cash verses the fact you all ready essentially prepaid for the trip and you are renting out a contact to turn a profit. You have to understand the system to know how it works in your favor. Simply by keep track over the years of how much it would have cost you out of pocket verses what you paid upfront and the $1000 in yearly dues and the profit you make by renting points makes a DVC worth it. We have taken 26 trips so our return on investment was met along time ago.

For example we are staying at the Beach Club in May if we were to pay out of pocket it would cost us $3472 for the trip. that cost represents just over a 1/4 of the price of a $12,000 DVC contract. So if you take 4 trips costing right around that same price you have met you ROI. Doesn't take long.

 

[Marionnette]

But what you fall to see is that in the 5 years I also made $15,000 for renting one contract, minus the $4500 average for the dues means I banked $10,500. and I also took 5 trips and 2 cruises in my 5 years.

So every time I booked a DVC trip, I also price what that exact trip would have cost if you were paying cash at the time of booking. I keep a log of how much we would have paid out of pocket if we did not have the DVC. The two cruises we took would have cost us $5,000 and $4700 to do a cruise . Right there was $9700 of the $24,000 we paid for the two contract. Now factor in that I made the $10500 profit so that leaves $3800. So in those 5 years I only had to have enough stays to cover the $3,800 break even point. Because remember I am still renting out my other contract and getting $3000 minus the $1000 yearly dues so I pocket $2,000 a year. Not to mention part of the money you pay in dues goes toward property taxes which is broken down on the yearly tax documents Disney sends you so you get to claim that on your taxes and get back about $75 on your taxes.

You just have to understand how to price the trip if paying cash verses the fact you all ready essentially prepaid for the trip and you are renting out a contact to turn a profit. You have to understand the system to know how it works in your favor. Simply by keep track over the years of how much it would have cost you out of pocket verses what you paid upfront and the $1000 in yearly dues and the profit you make by renting points makes a DVC worth it. We have taken 26 trips so our return on investment was met along time ago.

For example we are staying at the Beach Club in May if we were to pay out of pocket it would cost us $3472 for the trip. that cost represents just over a 1/4 of the price of a $12,000 DVC contract. So if you take 4 trips costing right around that same price you have met you ROI. Doesn't take long.

You're using fuzzy math to make your point. You didn't "save" the cost of those trips in the first 5 years of ownership. The prices that Disney charges the general public for their cruises and villas are red herrings and that's the logic that Disney wants you to use when you buy into DVC. In actuality, you "spent" the cost of your points for those trips, you didn't "save" anything.

You might be able to recoup part of your annual dues by renting out your points, but it doesn't negate the cost of your initial outlay or the ongoing cost of the dues in the years when you don't rent out the points.

Sorry. But when I walk into a store, see a 60%-off sign on a rack and then make my purchase, I don't regard it as "saving" that amount on the garment. I actually spent money. Maybe less money than the person who bought that same item last week, but nonetheless, I spent some money. And that is how I regard my DVC ownership.

But if you want to use fuzzy math to convince yourself that your trips are somehow "free", then go right ahead. It's the same logic that people use with "free" dining.

 

[PrincessKimmy]

In 2012 we did a family of 4 for 8 days w/park hopper, value, & free dining for $1550. I thought was a great deal. My girls were 2.5 and 15 months at the time, so they were both free.

Our flight was $1800... which isn't bad flying out of Toronto, but I also envy those with cheap flights. TO is so expensive! I know we could get better rates if we drove across the boarder, but with little ones, I am ok paying the higher rates to keep things easy.

 

[Howgreat]

Last September, we spent 6 nights at ASMu with 5 day MYW tickets and free dining for $1730. We always drive to save money, so gas was around $250, tips were a little over $100, and we spent around $150 on souveneirs.

 

[nluvwithdisney]

I can't remember the numbers but I planned a trip right after 9/11. Nobody was traveling. Airfare, rental car and an offsite hotel were dirt cheap.

We went in November of 2001. Stayed 9 nights at the Dolphin for $99 per night since we had a PAP. They were also running a special on Starwood points of 1500 per night which got us free rooms for a short summer trip the following year. Rental car was less than 200 for the entire trip. Best part was leaving universal at close to go make Fantasmic at Disney. Gate to gate was about 35 minutes.