Why did you buy DVC?

[ScottJ]

As DW & I ponder DVC we are having second thoughts. We have come to the conclusion DVC is not about saving money but a choice to have better accomodations.

Is this simplifying things too much? Or are there other reasons?

 

[justloveit]

You will save money if you look at the increasing cost of a room versus the one time purchase you make for a fixed number of points that will get a room and will not be affected by inflation. The accomodations are without a doubt better than an average motel/hotel room. But without points, what you will pay for those accomodations will be more every year. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

As DW & I ponder DVC we are having second thoughts. We have come to the conclusion DVC is not about saving money but a choice to have better accomodations.

Is this simplifying things too much? Or are there other reasons?

I think it can be about either OR both.

The problem with purchasing to save money is that as human beings we become envious of what other people have.

You can purchase 25 points for < $2500 and $125 MFs/yr., and stay in OKW studios or std. bdwlk in the off season for 5 weeknights every other year. That is a major cost savings. [You pay $250 for your stay instead of $1000 minimum.]

However a week at BC in a 2 bdrm at Easter every year will cost you 462 points. At $90/pt. that will be about $42k plus MFs of about $2200/yr. You have to really enjoy Disney to make that work out moneywise IMHO.

I'm sure the 2nd scenario does work out mathematically at some point if you had to have 2 rooms and insisted on staying at a Deluxe in holiday season. Its just not the no brainer of the 1st scenario.

 

[njmeisje]

Yes Scott, I think you are right. We enjoyed our years staying at the Poly, but the $$ we have invested in DVC has been well spent. We enjoy a more casual pace WDW vacation at BCVs (in our case). A great accomodation, bought and paid for.....

Good luck deciding.
Diane

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

I bought because a one week trip staying at a deluxe was about $3000 just for the accommadations. We bought into DVC for $12,000 (4 weeks of paying retail) and got 37 weeks out of it.

My kids are dancing at the Disney Music Days in April and the price for the BW was $500 per night.(which would of cost $3500 just for the hotel) I'm getting it for $900 for the whole week- (the cost of my annual dues) ---

Once the purchase price is paid off- you can't beat $900 a week to stay on site in a 1 bedroom at the BW or BCV---- totally a bargain in my book!

The added bonus was the washer (especially with the airlines charging for baggage) the full kitchen (having groceries delivered is priceless and saves $$$$$$$, tons of it ) having a balcony and a king size bed and a separate room from the kids (not going to bed at 9:00 anymore!! Yeah). Also, having access to VB and a resort right on the ocean (very relaxing and perfect after a trip to Disney) And the best part is know I get to go to Disney almost every year!!!!!!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

We are buying because when we stayed at Pop last month (first FAMILY trip to Disney, DH and I have both been there before, years ago, but without each other), we vowed to stay Deluxe from now on, and in a better location. We decided that it would be either on the monorail line or in the Epcot area, either at BC or BW. Then we saw how much it costs. Then we also decided that the Epcot area is better for us than the monorail line because it is centrally located AND walking distance to 2 parks we love. To stay at BC or BW in the summer in a regular room for 10 nights (the amount of time we decided our trips would be) would be close to $4,000.

So, we started loooking into DVC. We decided that we would be going to WDW every other year anyway, and as I found out more and more info, we decided it was for us. We feel that we would regret it a great deal if we do not jump in now and lock in these prices. Our kids are only 1 and 3 so we have plenty of family vacations to look forward to with them, plenty of years for them to enjoy Disney in different stages of childhood.

For our vacation plans, this does save us money. Being able to have a one-bedroom at BWV every other year...priceless and something we never expected to afford until we discovered DVC! We decided on BWV for our home resort since we want to stay there every time!

 

[eliza61]

As DW & I ponder DVC we are having second thoughts. We have come to the conclusion DVC is not about saving money but a choice to have better accomodations.

Is this simplifying things too much? Or are there other reasons?

i think in our case it was a bit of both. Our love of Disney was upfront. We had pretty much knew we would be returning quite often and that we enjoyed the deluxe accomodations. So it seemed sort of a natural fit. We're really not sure if we saved money because we go more often and tend to stay longer now. We do think it's improved our overall quality of life though, giving us fabulous vacations and memories.

 

[lingber]

As DW & I ponder DVC we are having second thoughts. We have come to the conclusion DVC is not about saving money but a choice to have better accomodations.

Is this simplifying things too much? Or are there other reasons?

IMHO it really comes down to the room size you want and how you use your points. We have just recently decided to purchase and now that we have explored the DVC option, wish we had purchased earlier. We have stayed at Deluxe DVC resorts in the past, but with the rising costs of hotel rooms and our need for more space as the kids get older, we have opted to go elsewhere (less expensive but still deluxe) and book two rooms. We can usually get good deals as Florida residents at Universal on-site hotels. The Disney properties that we want to stay in, always seem to be much more expensive! With DVC we can go back to Disney, get a one bedroom and our annual out of pocket costs are less. Sure you have to take into account purchasing the points, but once that is paid off, we vacation for the cost of the MF.

So after the purchase, do you save money? There are many different opinions on these threads, but for our vacation needs DVC seems to make alot of sense!

 

[Golden Rose]

We bought because we realized just how much we were spending a year... we always stay at deluxe resorts and we were spending a lot of money. This was not a problem when we were going every three or four years, but now that DS is 3 and really appreciates WDW, we have started going at least once a year and sometimes more. We went in September last year (stayed at the BW) and May this year (stayed at the GF) and had starting planning a trip for this fall...

We'd been thinking about buying DVC sometime in the future. We have a lot of expenses right now - (it looked like we'd be paying for IVF, now we're about to be paying for adoption expenses) - so we kept putting it off. Then we thought about how much we'd be paying for our fall vacation, and decided to go ahead and buy in now. We'll get two vacations next year on our current points, and we're planning to buy more points when our expenses are more clearly defined.

We would have spent a minimum of $3000 for accommodations for our next trip since we planned a family trip with the three of us, plus my mom and her SO. Assuming two trips between now and the end of 2010, we were looking at $6000. We can do that with our developer points and first year's points with minimal or no borrowing. (We may actually be able to do three trips if we stay in a studio.)

Anyway, after crunching the numbers, we decided that it really did make sense for us. People talk about it breaking even for them after 8 or 10 years, but it will be sooner for us based on our traveling habits (and the nice bonus of developer points helped make the number look good fast.)

 

[kim_d]

DH and I prefer deluxe accomodations and after realizing how much a week's vacation would cost vs the cost of DVC it seemed like a really good idea to essentially pre-pay for our vacations.

I will say that once we owned DVC we starting going to WDW more than we had anticipated, but that is the great thing--- we can and our room is paid already paid for.

I don't really see it as any investment to make money or even save money (see we go more than we would if we weren't DVC) but more of a way to pre-pay for vacations that we love.

An interesting note, is that we bought BCV in 2002 and financed. We could sell our contract today and re-coop all our money- principal and interest. And in that time we have been to WDW 8 times or so.

 

[kim_d]

i think in our case it was a bit of both. Our love of Disney was upfront. We had pretty much knew we would be returning quite often and that we enjoyed the deluxe accomodations. So it seemed sort of a natural fit. We're really not sure if we saved money because we go more often and tend to stay longer now. We do think it's improved our overall quality of life though, giving us fabulous vacations and memories.

Completely agree.

 

[culli]

Did the research to include the DIS broads....actually someone posted a nice list of questions to ask yourself (DVCMIKE maybe?).

For us it came down to:

1. Want to go to WDW at least once a year
2. Want a kitchen when with the kids
3. I won't go in debt
4. For what we wanted in accommodations feel it was a good deal along with incentives.

 

[ReneeA]

The reason I said DVC is not about the savings is as follows.

As a DVC member you're not immune to inflationary increases. MFs go up 2% to 5% every year. Whereas in a down economy Disney will discount rooms so DVC members are actually hit with an increase every year where guest staying at rooms sometimes are discounted.

If you say you're only paying MF for your vacation this too is a little simplified. You'd have to add in what you paid for your DVC up front plus any interest on the loan if you took one.

ex. in our case (I'm rounding numbers) on a $160pts at AKV, $750MFs + $530p+i = $1280 per year. If we didn't finance the total would be $1070.This will increase every year due to increases in MFs.

I REALLY want to buy but have to come up with other reasons than money. I don't know if I can justify it.

 

[ScottJ]

Sorry - the above post was mine. The wife logged in while I was away from the computer.

 

[chalee94]

if you buy an OKW resale (cheaper buy-in and relatively low maintenance fees), and stay at OKW in the low season only on weeknights (8 pts per night for a studio with 2 queen beds), i think the numbers can beat anything on property...including value rooms.

but if you want to take advantage of the larger accomodations, or stay on weekends, or stay much more often than you would if you were paying cash, then i would agree that the purely financial value of DVC is lessened. whether the tradeoffs are worth it depends on your personal sitation.

whether DVC is a good fit or not just depends on how you vacation and how much you love wdw. it's not for everyone so don't feel badly if it's not your thing...

 

[Tozzie]

I purchased in June, at that time I was staying at the AKL which I love, I had a savannah view room and for Sun-Thur nights it cost me almost $2000 for just the room. I sat down and did the math, I purchased 200 points and I can take three vacations a year staying in a savannah view villa. so not counting the MF I will get 3 vacations a year for 49 years for the same amount of money I would have spent in about 3-4 years paying cash for accomodations. I get a lot of vacation time and if I decide not to go 3 times a year and only go two I can either get a larger villa for the whirlpool tub or I can bank the points. There are so many options and in the long run for me it was a good decision finacially. Everyone has to decide what is best for themselves and what would work for them for me it was the right choice.

 

[crisi]

I think its true. Because if it were about saving money, you'd stay home. Or you'd get a condo on Skyauction for a fraction of the cost. You are making decisions about what sort of accomodations you have when you vacation in Orlando. For most of us, staying on site is a requirement. If your requirement list includes staying on site, having multiple rooms, staying in at least a moderate - then DVC starts to make financial sense as well. All of us have already decided that we are upgrading from the Days Inn out by the airport....now we are just determining how to get what we'd like more affordably.

 

[bobbiwoz]

For us, it's about having the accomodations for family gatherings. Right from the start for us, in '03, we were planning an 85th birthday party for DM, and we knew that we would want to have other family celebrations at WDW in the future. Individual room costs over these years would have been prohibitive. We have enjoyed our DVC vacations. We already had a second home in NJ, and the DVC was the perfect missing piece for our family vacations.

Bobbi

 

[Moeluv4u7]

For Us...
We have 5 kids so with a 7 member family regular hotels have always been a problem with room sizes even when a double suite is available for the time we want- We usually never book and plan as far as even 6 mos out usually 2-3 mos at the most and sometimes even last minute but from what we paid for accomodations even say 5 years ago to now... prices have gone up extremely high! I will only stay at 3 star or higher andmostly higher for the ammenities and service. Why Disney rather than another time share? Because Disney has been my dream since I was a very small child- I have never in my life been to any of them due to family finances and we can afford this for our family- It will force us to take more family vacations (how can we resist-LOL) and with the price- it really is great! Even after our DS17 is off to college we will still need for 6 of us OR for him and a couple friends when Spring Break comes around- Also, we can let the kids invite friends at times and have room for them without feeling "invaded"- We can visit the parks on one trip and just do resort on another or a mixture of both w/o feeling as though we are missing something- I want to vacation w/ quality every time rather than quantity- Our very first trip will be next year and we are doing 10 day parks w/ water parks & more & I am still contemplating hoppers but we are making them non-expiring- We can do 3 days of parks & 2 days at resort and not by tickets again for a couple years- (I do realize ticket prices will be changing in that time frame too, but hope to grab others for great value before we need them again)- All in all- Disney has become our vacation future- not our vacation past- W/ travel (driving to Fla) and food (kitchen in 2BR villas) being our biggest expenses now- I feel we have done a very positive thing for our family! Oh 1st trip we will be doing some type of TS Dining Plan- can't decide which yet- But again, first time, so have to try so many of the great tastes of Disney!

 

[DVC 1998]

You are correct. We own at BWV and stay in a 2 bedroom villa -current cost $1250, per night. At OKW, our favorite 2 bedroom cost $530, per night. It is about nice places to stay. Bot 10 yrs ago at about $70, per point.