Why not DVC?

[lomillerin]

Edit

 

[robinb]

I am one who does not think it saves money, anyone else?

We're DVC members and I know it saves us money.

It all depends on what level of resort you usually book to see it it saves money. We bought DVC many years ago and own 430 points (with no loans). We bought both on the resale market and I only paid $55 per point for OKW and $63 for BWV. We did some calculations using a spreadsheet and came to the conclusion that if we stayed in a Value resort each time, it was cheaper to pay Disney each trip. If we stayed in a Moderate or nicer, it was less expensive. We still stay in the Values to strech points, but I much prefer the Moderates and up.

Let's take out next trip for instance. We're at BCV in a studio for 5 nights for 97 points, or $970 at the current $10 per point rental value (which we paid less). We're paying about $175 pre-tax for a room at the Beach Club. Wouldn't a Beach Club lover jump at that?!? A studio at OKW would be the exact same price as a Moderate and you get the upgrade to a Home Away From Home resort complete with a real (albeit small) fridge, toaster, and microwave. Oh, and a much bigger room and private balcony .

In addition, with DVC we have been able to stay in the best (IMO) unit available in any Disney resort: the 2500 square foot 3-bedroom Grand Villa. That sucker is bigger than my house!

 

[lomillerin]

Edit

 

[TwingleMum]

You cannot compare a resort room to a DVC room. DVC rooms have a full size washer/dryer, kitchens with a full size frig, dishwasher, microwaves, ovens , living rooms, TVs w/DVD players, free DVDs, huge jacuzzi tubs, separate huge shower stalls, balconys, etc etc. Familes find these a great alternative to staying of site. **Waring ** if you try a DVC 1 br or larger theres no turning back.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I am one who does not think it saves money, anyone else?

I can promise you it saves money in the long run if you usually a) stayed at deluxe resorts and b)went at least every other year for extended stays or better yet every year. Some reasons everyone doesn't buy is its a big investment, and you are committed to going to the same place on vacation every year. You can trade your points for other trips, but that isn't as good of a return on your investment. I, for example, stayed at the Plaza Hotel in NY on points because it was easy and the whole time I was there kept thinking how many days in WDW I was missing out on.

 

[dianeschlicht]

It definitely saves us money. We figure it had paid for itself after about 5-6 years and now it is all gravy for the cost of maintenance fees. We will be taking our adult children and one of their SOs for New Years and the whole ten night trip in a 2 bedroom unit for 5 people will be less than a single room in a moderate which would not accommodate all of us. Add onto that the fact that we have a full kitchen to save on breakfast and snacks and some meals, and the AP discounts for our tickets, and we will be saving a LOT on this trip!

 

[crisi]

It can save you money if you are disciplined enough to use it "just like you used a Deluxe room" The problem being, most of us choose not to be that disciplined. i.e. a one bedroom won't save you money over a room at the Wilderness Lodge. Treating your relatives to points won't save you money unless you formerly treated them to rooms.

 

[RAD]

DW and I had gone to WDW numerous times over the years and always just walked by the DVC booths that are all over the place. Heck, it's a timeshare and I'd heard too many bad things about timeshares and even did a sales pitch once and was something I didn't want to do again. In 1999 we were staying at the Swan and paying around $250 per night for a room that wasn't 'special' in anyway, just a hotel room, nice but no Disney 'magic' to it.

One afternoon while walking around the Boardwalk killing some time we looked into the windows at the DVC sales center and say what the rooms looked like, so we stopped in and took the tour. A bit over two hours later we walked out with 200 points and have added 100 more on to that. We looked at the money involved and what we have been paying for WDW deluxe rooms and to us it was a no brainer. Yes, it's still expensive but at least I know that I won't be seeing ever rising prices to stay in the resort. Yes the annual dues can and usually does go up but only by a couple of percent, sometimes it even went down.

DVC has also allowed us to do some things that we wouldn't do before due to the expense. On many trips we've invited other family members and friends to join us. On one trip the rooms that we had (according to the Disneyworld web site) would have cost us around $15,000 (two 2BR's and three studios at BWV).

Now if you say that staying at a value resort is your cup of tea, because we're always in the park and all we do is sleep in the room, then DVC probably isn't going to be a good fit for you. In fact while you can use your DVC points to stay at other non-DVC hotel's on the property you can't use your points at the value resorts, it's not a good trade off. However, if the thought of coming back to a nice large room, taking a whirlpool in your room, or making a snack/lunch/dinner in your own kitchen (to save some $'s and the hassell of going out somewhere to eat) then DVC is something you should look into.

 

[Beca]

Or, another way to look at it is this....we usually stay in 1 bdrms (dh, dd and myself)...do we need to? No. Did we say we would always stay in studios? Yes.

But then...we stayed in the 1 bdrm. As usual, my dd contracted some strange virus while in WDW, so she was excreting mass quantities of substances out of both body openings. I know....ewww!!!! But, that kind of stuff happens with kids.

Having the DVC room was GREAT!!! We could wash our bedsheets as needed without having to call for housekeeping and "explain". She often had poopy pants or clothes that had been thrown up on...well, we washed those, too. I was doing at least two loads of laundry a day. It was SOO nice to be able to throw on a load of clothes.

Since she also didn't feel too well by the end of the trip, she was not eating ANY WDW food. Having the kitchen was wonderful, as I could cook her whatever she wanted to eat (usually Kraft macaroni and cheese...my crazy kid doesn't like WDW's yummy mac 'n cheese).

And, since we had to take it really easy on our last days there, we really enjoyed having the living room with the table and chairs to eat at, and the coffee table, which she turned in to her "craft table" with all the "crafting" souveniers we had bought her.

We stayed in a BWV 1 bedroom for five nights, and it cost us 110 points...on the current market of $10 per point...that would've been $1100. A standard room at the BWI runs around $300 per night....that would be $1500 + tax. When the one bedrooms are available at BWV for cash, they go for around $450 per night (last time I checked), but they aren't available that often.

Here's my point....if we had been in a regular WDW room, our trip would've been ruined by my dd's illness. There are just too many "what ifs" that a regular hotel room cannot cover. But, with our DVC room, we were able to just take whatever happened in stride. That makes the rooms priceless, IMO.

Needless to say...I think studios are out for us in the future!!



Beca

 

[mom2rb]

I think it takes 5-7 years to break even. Not bad since I own it for the next 48 years. But let's just get rid of that for a minute. The first time I took my boys to DW they were 5. We were at the Contemporary. One week, one room, pure he!!. The boys had to take naps everyday and go to bed early. I was stuck in a dark room about four hours a day, awake at DISNEY. Plus I felt like we ate junk food all week, and paid a fortune to eat it.

We bought DVC right after we came home. Now we stay in a one bedroom. When my kids go to bed early, I can go in the other room and read. My food bill is less than half of what it was. We have breakfast and dinner in the room. We eat a big lunch in the parks. We brought my MIL in Dec. This time we are bringing my MIL, my step-mom, and my little brother. My cost for the points and maintenance fees this trip, $147.60 a night average. I maybe could get two rooms at a value for this.

 

[westjones]

We always seem to do studios because we only have 150 points and we like to go alot....BUT...the studios are great! They are much better than the regular rooms. We just stayed in an OKW studio and loved it. The 2 queen sized beds are super! And the kitchenette is so nice to have. DH and I sat out on our balcony while the kids got ready in the morning, and we had a lovely stay!

Also, Vero Beach is a great addition to our trip. We just stayed there last week and decided that a split between WDW and VB is a must for our future trips.

I agree, I am really saving money because if it were not for DVC I would not be staying in these very nice rooms (we would either stay at a value resort or off site). BUT DVC has made it possible for our family to enjoy deluxe resorts! And if you usually stay at delux resorts then DVC will save you money. For us it is a matter of getting more 'bang for our buck'. Now we can stay at those resorts that I NEVER thought I would be able to stay at! And we love it! And we love WDW more because of the DVC resorts! I am not someone who wants to go to the parks every day. There is nothing to do at the value or offsite (inexpensive) resorts. But at the DVC resorts, you are going to a destination. You can stay there at the resort and have a great time without leaving your resort. We do still go to the parks, but now we only go one or two days. The other days we go boating, swimming, shopping, etc. Just relaxing!

DVC has given us a new way to vacation.
DJ

 

[Chuck S]

It absolutely saves $$$. For instance, we have 345 points and travel to WDW 2x per year. I just found an old WDW Travel confirmation from 1991, we paid $2300 for a 7 night stay at the Contemporary on a package that included room and Lengh of Stay tickets only--no dining.

Now, we paid $51.50 per point in 1992 an have those points for 49 years. Of course, buying today, your actual cost will vary.

Anyway, for OKW earlier this month we were in a studio for 9 days at 118 points. No $51.50/49 is $1.05 per point per year. Add our dues at a slight over estimate of $4 per point, that comes to $5.05 x 118. That is $595.90 actual cost for the points used for 9 nights. Rack rate on that studio is $259 per night, or a total of $2331 + tax. Now tax is either 11% or 13%, I don't remember which, but using the lower, the total increases to $2587.41. Even adding in the cost of 2 adult tickets to the cost of the points we come out cheaper. And, with using APs, we have another trip planned in early December.

 

[tjkraz]

My husband keeps telling me we are wasting our money not buying DVC, but I am having a hard time being convinced.

Add up all of the $$$ you spent on accommodations alone for the 10 trips listed in your signature. I suspect you'll have your own answer.

Looks like you'll be visiting the Boardwalk in October. A DVC member would pay 9 points for a Studio room during that same time period. Assuming the initial purchase has been paid off (for which the break-even point is probably in the neighborhood of 6-8 years), that room would cost a DVC member about $39.69 (9 pts x dues of $4.41 per point) per weekday night. And that's with no resort taxes or any other associated fees.

I'm gonna go out on a limb, but I suspect you're probably paying more than $40 per night for your accommodations at the Boardwalk, right?

 

[Pa@okw95]

Buying into DVC is an expense not a savings. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Going to WDW is an expense no matter where you stay. You have airfare, or driving and hotel costs, you have park tickets, eating out at WDW, if you are a member of DVC you have annual dues, mine run over $1000 per year. You have other costs associated with guests that come because you have a time share at WDW. You find yourself going to WDW more often, that is a real killer when it comes to expenses. What you are doing is pre-paying for a near life time of going to WDW. The accomodations are better than most at WDW but they are not always kept up the way they should be. I can afford DVC and I like going to Florida in the winter so it is worth it for me, I would only spend the money elsewhere.

 

[spiceycat]

Chuck in your calculations you forget the free tickets we got until 2000.

that more than made up for the mortgage. So I consider my mortgage long gone. It was gone in 2 1/2 to 3 years.

so I only now pay the maintence fees for OKW that is $3.01 per points (taxes are a write off and I don't include them if you do just add $0.8507.)

so I get a great deal on my studios!!!! I will occasionally stay in a 1 or 2 bedroom but not often.

for the times I like to go OKW is 8 points for a studio Sun-thurs. Do the math for yourself. I definitely save money.

we were going to WDW 3 times a year before DVC - so I do go more often but I still think I save money.

of course I couldn't afford the WDW resorts that I stayed in then at today's prices. We would only now stay in the value with maybe an occasionally moderate. No deluxes at all!!! and then I only stayed in deluxes.

 

[tjkraz]

Buying into DVC is an expense not a savings. Don't let anyone tell you any different.

Sure, but let's keep things in perspective. We're talking about someone who has already stayed (or will be staying) at the Wilderness Lodge, AKL, GF and Boardwalk before 2005 ends. The money has already been committed and the decision made. Assuming that DVC does not change travel patterns (yes, a grand assumption) DVC will absolutely save money in the long run.

Decisions to travel more, bring family and friends, get a larger room, etc. are certainly issues to be considered, but not really condusive to an apples-to-apples comparison.

...if you are a member of DVC you have annual dues, mine run over $1000 per year.

For the sake of the OP, dues average about $4 per point. A minimum contract of 150 points will get you as many as 16 nights in a Studio room per year, and dues will be roughly $600 per year.

 

[jarestel]

I mean there are many guests that go every year or several times a year and do not buy DVC? why?

a) It's a rather steep buy-in price
b) Annual dues are somewhat high
b) DVC ownership expires at the end of your contract ( you don't own it forever )
c) Many people use codes to book their deluxe rooms, which makes a comparison of DVC to deluxe rooms look less attractive
d) Reputation of time shares in general
e) Reservations about the long term health of the economy
f) If Disney burnout occurs, they just don't go for a few years, rather than worry about paying dues on unused points ( or renting )
g) don't want to commit for 40 years to one particular vacation destination, no matter how nuch they like it today

I'm sure there are many more reasons why everyone doesn't buy DVC, but these are some of the more common ones I've heard.

Good luck!

 

[tjkraz]

Two more I'd add to jarestel's list:

h) Frequent weekend vacationers (points are 2-3 times higher on Friday & Saturday nights)
i) Unable / unwilling to plan trips a minimum of 6 months in advance

 

[Danthesand]

It can save you money if you are disciplined enough to use it....

....properly, ergo as an advance planner type . People who plan their vacations far in advance, ergo 11+ months tend to end up much more satisfied with DVC than those who try to use it as a "spur of the moment" resource.

While this is particularly critical for the obvious things (like taking an extended family group to WDW for Christmas), it also helps when leveraging the program in other ways: thinking about our vacations over a year out has allowed us to employ DVC not just to stay onsite at WDW but to also enjoy a high end resort in upstate NY (through the Concierge program), take a cruise on DCL and at stay the Grand Californian at Disneyland (through the Disney Collection).

And we're currently planning a trade to go to Hawaii in 2007.

 

[lllovell]

For my family, it wasn't about "savings" the same as it was for others. What DVC got me was a guaranteed stay in an amazing resort EVERY TIME I VISIT! No more trying to chase down codes or looking for deals, I know I have my deal already. No more staying in a value resort for several days, having to pay extra for a fridge and not having a microwave or closet space or a bathroom where I had to straddle the toilet to close the bathroom door! Would I still stay in a value - - - of course! Would I stay there for 5-7 nights...ummm no. My time with my family is gold to me and I want our memories to be the most wonferful times we can have. Being right on top of each other in cramped accomidations is not a good time to me. Financially, I will eventually hit a break even point (my numbers said 7 years for my family because I financed it with a home equity loan - so lower interest than Disney - but still interest) and then the rest is gravy.

So far this year, my 250 points have "cost" me $2,864.00 between my mortgage and my maintenance fees. For that, I have gotten 10 nights in a studio and have coming up an additional 5 nights in a one bedroom. Discounted Rack rates (lets use 25% off - which seems to be about what the AP rates are looking like at this time) would have cost me $2,542.50 (plus tax - which DVCers don't pay) for the 10 nights in a studio at OKW discounted by 25% (if such a discount were even offered) and $1,312.50 (again plus tax - this rate being discounted 25%) for the 5 nights at Saratoga Springs in December. So, I would have spent a total of $3,855 before the 11% room tax for my stays this year. The difference is over $1000 between my actual mortgage and maintenance fee payments and a 25% off discounted room rate (not rack) adjusted by season. When my mortgage is gone, my yearly rate is going to be my maintenance fees alone - under $800 for this year. I can live with these numbers.

You can talk future values of money, investment strategies, etc...but the truth is that unless you are putting that $3,855 plus tax aside each year (and don't forget to take away capital when you DO vacation), its not "real" money to me. I get some very nice REAL vacation and will for the next 48+ years. My retirement funds are still growing. My children's education plans are growing as well. Lucky for me, we bought in early enough that in 7 years, my oldest won't even be in high school and I can divert those extra funds to their college plans at that point if I choose (or sooner if I pay it off sooner as planned) and still be in a great place in life.

Everyone is different. If this doesn't scream to you "buy me...now!!!" after you look at the finances, try to figure out why. If you really think its a bad financial decision, then don't buy! If there are other reasons, then address them before you make any decisions as well. I am thrilled to have bought into a timeshare that allows my family to have amazing vacations where I will never have to worry about the rising cost of hotel rooms or about the quality of the service/amenities. If I can't afford the rise in maintenance fees, then I don't need to be going to Disney anyway - no matter where we choose to stay.