Will becoming a DVC member pay for itself?

[skelooch]

I've been a DVC member for a little over 2 years at BCV and through this year will have made 8 trips, using studios, 1BR & 2BR units.

I did a quick calculation of what those 8 trips would have cost if I paid cash as a non member and it comes to around $32,000.00.

Granted I probably wouldn't have stayed in DVC resorts if I weren't a member and I probably wouldn't have gone 8 times in 2 years.

But because I am a member I can take my kids and grandkids at least once or twice a year and knowing that my 5 grandchildren ages 1-8 will be able to take their kids is priceless.

My DVC membership is a gift from my late wife to her kids and grandkids and it is well worth every penny.

 

[tjkraz]

The common tongue-in-cheek argument is that DVC won't save you any money because it will cause you to take more trips than before, spending more money on transportation, tickets, food, souvenirs, etc.

But, if you do a dollar-for-dollar comparison between purchasing enough points to stay a week in a DVC studio and the cash rate for a week in any Deluxe resort room, there's no question you will save thousands of dollars on your accommodations between now and the end of the contract.

 

[twinx4]

I like the idea that I will save more with more visits per year. B/c as it stands right now. We go every year towards the end of the year and continue to add on the number of nights each year. This year we are going for 8-10 nights (compared to starting off with 4 nights a few years back). And I figure that I would enjoy a home-away-from home dwelling as I pack on the days. Grab some groceries and have light meals at the resort and venture out for character dining in the evening (AFTER ALL I'M STILL ON VACATION) I try to take the opportunity each year to expand our sight-seeing adventures.

For example we will venture out to Universal Studios and perhaps Sea World, etc. Although some have suggested its better to stay on-site for Universal that way I can get the additional bonus of front of the line passes, among other things. And then transfer over to Disney. I'm going to weigh that one out. But now I see the probability of adding more days on as a DVC member and staying on Disney resort and rent a car to travel to Universal for 1 day.

So many choices and so many decisions, but I'm glad that I've got them.

 

[Merilyn]

Without a doubt! We usually book a GV at OKW. It is about 1000 a night times 7 nights. That is a hugh amount-7000 plus tax. We have enough point to stay 2 weeks. We can subtract 2 nights we pay in dues and not quite 2 nights in total cost. That leaves us about 10 night free a year. My figures are not perfect but you get the idea. If we stay in a smaller size unit then we can stay many more nights. It has already paid well over for us. We joined in 1994. You have to like staying in the better resorts-OKW, BWV, etc. It won't pay for itself if you like the less cost places. Good luck with your decision.

 

[crisi]

tkjraz,

I don't think its tongue in cheek. I think there is a portion of reality.

I'm going to make some assumptions....

Most people make their decision to buy DVC based not on "superior accomodations" (i.e. a seperate bedroom for the kids, a jacuzzi tub, a kitchen in the room - all on Disney property), but on cost savings over their current vacation patterns. At least, most people who come to this board considering purchase as the big "will I break even" question.

Some people on this board keep their vacation patterns the same - and those people (assuming their vacation pattern was yearly vacations in a Moderate or Deluxe without a lot of long weekends), will save money. Some people will further save money making use of free laundry and kitchens (or, when doing the save money thing - kitchenettes).

Many more people on this board (and whether this is true for DVC in general or something about the Disney nuts on this board) change their habits as a result - which DVC encourages. When you can get a week for 80 points in a studio - if you only stayed a week before - you'll have "extra" points - and probably spend more time and money at Disney. DVC members seem more likely to bring guests than we did pre-DVC. We seem more likely to sneak in an extra trip than we did pre-DVC. Some people, like my family, were not every year (every other year) WDW vacationers - we joined DVC and made a committment to do so - without DVC we'd have gone every three to five years as we did previously. Without a hotel bill at checkout, some of us report spending more on dinner, etc.

I think this is important to point out. Its an eyes wide open thing.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

DVC may save you money if you keep your other trip expenses down. With DVC you will likely make more trips than you currently do. You will keep overall expenses down if you can for example, DVC vacation w/o visiting the parks, or if you make good use of the two DVC offsites, etc. We have cut the discretionary spending we do while on WDW DVC trips, especially expenses at the parks.

 

[bcvillastwo]

When I was figuring my breakeven point I found it helpful to derive the cost per point. Using this analysis I can easily compare my DVC cost on a per stay basis to staying at DVC for cash, renting point, or paying cash at any on site or off site property.

My cost per point is $5.75 per point. Therefore if I stay at a DVC resort and it costs 150 points (for 5 nights) then it works out to $862.50 for that specific stay.

Here is how I calculated my cost per point.

1. yearly point allocation X total DVC years = total available points
2. Cost of DVC (we paid cash so there is no finance cost)
3. Cost of DVC divided by total available DVC points = cost per pt.
4. dues (I just use an avg or $4 per point for the calculation but you can revise your calculation each year and go with the actual per point dues cost for your individual resort.
5. add total cost per point to avg dues and I get $5.75 per point.

So, if I want to stay at a property that cost $100 a night and stay 5 nights I know immediately if that is a better deal than the $862.50 it will cost to use my DVC points.

On the other hand, if the room costs $300 a night for 5 nights then DVC is clearly the better choice.

I hope this helps. Yes, there are other costs that I could have considered like the opportunity cost of not investing the money rather than buying into DVC.

 

[twinx4]

I see that from reading previous posts DVC has been very helpful when trying to take extended family.

A couple of years ago I was able to treat my mother and brother on a trip to Disney. Although it took alot out of me financially, b/c I paid for EVERYTHING!!! Yikes, airline tickets, meals and park tickets....I felt it was well worth it, b/c I was doing it for my mom. And I don't know about the rest of you...but I have a wonderful mother and I wanted her to finally go on a vacation and enjoy herself without any worries.

Now would I ever do it again for mom yes, but my brothers would have to take care of their own expenses (at the time it was during my brothers birthday and he had never gone to Disney) but now that the first trip was on me and he knows what to expect then this one is on him

Anyway, the four of us (including my DD) stayed at ASM and had to get 2 connecting rooms, it was nice no complaints with the resort. But I wish that I were able to offer my mom the home-away-from home atmosphere. So when she wanted to come back to the room early , while the rest of us remained at the park. She could fix a late night snack in the kitchen or lounge in the livingroom. So investing in DVC, looks like it would be helpful for that matter. But when me and my DD go, its just a matter of having a place to store the suitcase and a place to lay our heads at night. But having a little more comfort features from time to time sounds just a good