Would you risk this?

[slappy magoo]

It depends on when you are going to be able to come back again and your use year. This time I can't becaue I don't have enough time in my use year.. so I would lose the points.

I don't know if your DVC agent explained this to you, but you can trade your points in NOW for a vacation to be determined through RCI. The trip we were going to take last year to WDW had to be canceled because my wife had to get all up and preggers (the nerve! ). Because some of those points were borrowed, we had to use them THAT use year or lose them. Instead, we transferred them to RCI points, and unless the DVC people are lying to me, those points are good to use in one of the "select" RCI resorts until the end of 2013.

Not necessarily the best solution, but not a complete loss of points, either.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I'm more on your side than not, but your math is faulty. First of all, even if you couldn't find a 30% discount on a BLT room, a little digging would find you SOME discount on the room. Heck, just by being a AAA member, you could save something like 10 or 15%. Annual passholders would also, often have good discounts; how good will depend on time of year.

Good point. I was thinking only of the Disney discounts, which are getting a little more scarce. The only thing about the discounts is that there actually has to be a DVC room available, and with the popularity of BLT, those rooms can be very hard to come by at certain times of the year.

But even if you want to ignore the possibility of finding a room-only discount, you're ignoring the cost of maintenance fees in your estimate of how long it would take you to "even out" buying DVC versus paying cash. At $4.23 a point (now, and fees do go up), you'll have paid over $4700 in 7 years (again, only based on what dues cost now, I won't argue more than that because naturally, as maintenance fees go up, so will "rack rates" if you're paying in cash. So it'd really take you closer to 9 or 10 years as a DVC member to start equating what you're seeing in "savings."

And of course, THOSE estimates also assume you didn't finance your points. If you did, and through Disney, it will probably be 15-18 years before you "break even."

I left out the dues for the simple reason of yearly increases in both the dues and room rates, where as the initial price paid is a known quantity. If room rates go up more than dues, then the break even point is less. People usually talk about break even on the initial investment, and not on the dues, though to be fair, you would have to factor in both.

But on the flip side, you have the luxury of not only going when you WANT to go, but when you're ABLE to go, without worrying about hopefully maybe getting some kind of deal. Sad truth is not everyone has flexibility with their job or school schedules, and Disney doesn't always offer sweet deals during the holidays/spring break/summer seasons that most people are able to swing going. Being a DVC member spares you that headache of trying to arrange your trip around a promotion that isn't a convenient time of year for you to go (even though those times are usually less crowded, so man does it get tempting).

Also, on the alternate-flip-pass-the-dutchie-on-the-left-hand-side side, you don't HAVE to buy your points from Disney. If you don't mind the restrictions that come from resale, you can save a good chunk of change that way, even if you're buying BLT points.

When we first bought in many years ago, we had no choice but to go during the summer months when the kids weren't in school. We had no desire to try a XMas week vacation . Since our kids are in college now, we travel when we want.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

To be fair, Disney doesn't advertise that it can save you money if you normally stay in DVC resorts and I think you can break even and save money eventually even when compared to moderates.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to do that comparision if that is where you would have stayed otherwise. To compare to the DVC room if you wouldn't have stayed there anyway is just an exercise to make you feel better.

True, you can do the comparison, but if you are, then DVC probably isn't for you. DVC Resorts are classified as Deluxe Villas, and comparing to a moderate is simply not a fair comparison when looking at costs and viability of DVC saving you money. If you stay at Moderates, DVC probably won't ever save you money, and would not be a good use of your money. YMMV.

When we were considering DVC, we only looked at comparisons to the Deluxe properties, since that is where we wanted to stay anyway. We have stayed at POR, POFQ, and the FW cabins, but they just don't compare to staying at a 1 bdr at any DVC property, much less a 3 bdr SSR Treehouse!

 

[slappy magoo]

I left out the dues for the simple reason of yearly increases in both the dues and room rates, where as the initial price paid is a known quantity. If room rates go up more than dues, then the break even point is less. People usually talk about break even on the initial investment, and not on the dues, though to be fair, you would have to factor in both.

The dues are a "known quantity" too, what's not known is if/how much they will go up any given year. I can understand, for the sake of your example, keeping the dues at a constant - not trying to figure out how much they will go up year to year - while also not trying to figure out how much rack rates will go up year to year. But yeah, any fair and honest comparison of costs incurred of being a DVC member versus paying cash for a room (with or without a discount) should include the maintenance fees.

One other thing we both forgot, which isn't a big deal for everyone but could be a contributing factor in a decision for a prospective DVC member - the discounts on annual passes. If you're the type that goes every year or every other year, and can factor your travel plans to maximize the use of an annual pass (if you don't go every year), then you can save a few extra hundred a year, easy.

 

[Tom]

The dues are a "known quantity" too, what's not known is if/how much they will go up any given year. I can understand, for the sake of your example, keeping the dues at a constant - not trying to figure out how much they will go up year to year - while also not trying to figure out how much rack rates will go up year to year. But yeah, any fair and honest comparison of costs incurred of being a DVC member versus paying cash for a room (with or without a discount) should include the maintenance fees.

One other thing we both forgot, which isn't a big deal for everyone but could be a contributing factor in a decision for a prospective DVC member - the discounts on annual passes. If you're the type that goes every year or every other year, and can factor your travel plans to maximize the use of an annual pass (if you don't go every year), then you can save a few extra hundred a year, easy.

Your second paragraph hits home for me. Not only do we make great use of our points, but we visit enough that the savings on the APs greatly outweighs what we would have spent on MYW tickets. And we started using Tables in Wonderland this year, which has already proven to benefit us more than any DDP.

So, when you own DVC, and if you plan to actually visit WDW routinely, the extras are what help make the value even greater. But again, it all comes down to how YOU vacation. If you would normally stay at a value for a week, once a year (over a year apart), and use a room discount - this aint for you, because you'll NEVER "break even".

 

[LuvtheGoof]

One other thing we both forgot, which isn't a big deal for everyone but could be a contributing factor in a decision for a prospective DVC member - the discounts on annual passes. If you're the type that goes every year or every other year, and can factor your travel plans to maximize the use of an annual pass (if you don't go every year), then you can save a few extra hundred a year, easy.

Very true. Since we go multiple times per year, we are always AP holders, and also TIW. Those two alone save us hundreds of dollars on our vacations.

To captainkidd, I would not personally take the risk of one 600 point contract at VB. Even with that low price point, it would not be worth it to us. Since we would never wish to stay there, and there may be times that you cannot use you points, I would rather have WDW resort to fall back on if nothing else is available. The dues are also a big factor. There are several OKW and SSR sales in the upper $50s, lower $60s that have a much better price for dues, and your total cost would quickly even out.

 

[slappy magoo]

To captainkidd, I would not personally take the risk of one 600 point contract at VB. Even with that low price point, it would not be worth it to us. Since we would never wish to stay there, and there may be times that you cannot use you points, I would rather have WDW resort to fall back on if nothing else is available. The dues are also a big factor. There are several OKW and SSR sales in the upper $50s, lower $60s that have a much better price for dues, and your total cost would quickly even out.

Yeah, the point's been made a few times before, but I think it definitely bears repeating. Maintenance fees for Vero Beach are like $1.80pp over Old Key West, $1.68pp over Animal Kingdom and a whopping $2.38p over Saratoga. Owning 600 points at Saratoga versus 60 at Vero Beach, the maintenance fees alone has an over $1300 difference. Meanwhile, I see 2 different 300 point contracts, one for $62pp one for $64pp. Do my math right, that averages to $63pp So $24K for the Vero points versus $37.8K for Saratoga Springs points, 13.8K ain't chump change. But after about 10 years of membership, that difference in price is balanced out, barring unforeseen circumstances at WDW that would really jack up membership fees for DVC members that doesn't affect the VB area. And again, shop around I'd bet you can find those Saratoga points for less, or you can negotiate with the people selling at $62 or $64pp.

I see someone selling 300 OKW points for $51.67pp. Get those and the 300 SSR points going for $62pp, you're around 34K, so only a 10K difference in price, and saving $1250 in maintenance fees versus 600 Vero Beach points, you "break even" in approximately 8 years. And again, that's based on what point values are for maintenance this year, future years may vary blah blah blah.

I'd say only go for VB points if you can see yourself wanting to go to VB quite a bit, and you're seriously worried about the 7-month window there, because at current resale rates and maintenance fee rates, it'll cost you money eventually versus buying resale pretty much anywhere else. If it's WDW you want to go, shop around and look for the lowest resale prices you can get, which will probably be at OKW SSR and VAK (and to be honest, Boardwalk points seem to be looking pretty affordable nowadays...)

 

[Annielkd]

I don't know if your DVC agent explained this to you, but you can trade your points in NOW for a vacation to be determined through RCI. The trip we were going to take last year to WDW had to be canceled because my wife had to get all up and preggers (the nerve! ). Because some of those points were borrowed, we had to use them THAT use year or lose them. Instead, we transferred them to RCI points, and unless the DVC people are lying to me, those points are good to use in one of the "select" RCI resorts until the end of 2013.

Not necessarily the best solution, but not a complete loss of points, either.

No, I didn't know this at all... and it would have been a suitable solution. I'm glad I know this now. Thank you very much for the information!

 

[Annielkd]

True, you can do the comparison, but if you are, then DVC probably isn't for you. DVC Resorts are classified as Deluxe Villas, and comparing to a moderate is simply not a fair comparison when looking at costs and viability of DVC saving you money. If you stay at Moderates, DVC probably won't ever save you money, and would not be a good use of your money. YMMV.

When we were considering DVC, we only looked at comparisons to the Deluxe properties, since that is where we wanted to stay anyway. We have stayed at POR, POFQ, and the FW cabins, but they just don't compare to staying at a 1 bdr at any DVC property, much less a 3 bdr SSR Treehouse!

This will be my first time getting a one bedroom. If it's really nice, I'll take back everything I said. When I went to the studio in Beach club even though things were nice, we ran into so many problems it was a pain in the neck. (A ton had to do with laundry which we will avoid with the 1 bedroom) Anyway... I hadn't considered I would travel when I wanted once I do retire... and then, I'm sure I'd want the luxury of a 1 bedroom.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

This will be my first time getting a one bedroom. If it's really nice, I'll take back everything I said. When I went to the studio in Beach club even though things were nice, we ran into so many problems it was a pain in the neck. (A ton had to do with laundry which we will avoid with the 1 bedroom) Anyway... I hadn't considered I would travel when I wanted once I do retire... and then, I'm sure I'd want the luxury of a 1 bedroom.

Even though it is only the 2 of us on most vacations now, we still opt for the 1bdr. We really prefer the space and amenities that it offers over the studios. Since we have the washer/dryer in the room, we pack less, and can travel lighter. Just plunk a load into the washer on the way to a park, and toss in the dryer when you get back. Awesome! Something else we have been considering lately is the Owners Locker. Seems to be an excellent service for those that visit WDW frequently. We will be checking it out soon.

Once we went 1bdr, there was no going back.

 

[Annielkd]

Even though it is only the 2 of us on most vacations now, we still opt for the 1bdr. We really prefer the space and amenities that it offers over the studios. Since we have the washer/dryer in the room, we pack less, and can travel lighter. Just plunk a load into the washer on the way to a park, and toss in the dryer when you get back. Awesome! Something else we have been considering lately is the Owners Locker. Seems to be an excellent service for those that visit WDW frequently. We will be checking it out soon.

Once we went 1bdr, there was no going back.

My information was based on what I had done so far... I'm learning that I didn't really know a lot. I'm pretty sure I'm going to LOVE the washer... especially since I had SOOOO many problems with the laundry before. (Would you believe issues trying to get your laundry done could ruin a day of vacation?) Anway... we have a 10 year old and we will have PRIVACY with the one bedroom, a stove to quick heat (hoping I don't have to do full cooking) and the washer! (heaven) That alone is one good reason to purchase DVC. (Apparently, I just have to keep trying till I find out the perfect place, the perfect room, and the perfect time of year!)

 

[captainkidd]

Once we went 1bdr, there was no going back.

That's how I feel. Heck, even for my solo trips, I splurge and go for the 1 bedroom villa. The bathroom alone is worth the price.

 

[Annielkd]

That's how I feel. Heck, even for my solo trips, I splurge and go for the 1 bedroom villa. The bathroom alone is worth the price.

You have NO idea how much I am looking forward to being able to RELAX in that tub. At home, even with all the medication I take, the only way I have any relief is with a deep hot bath. I already have my bath products packed and I'm brining my scrubbing bubbles to make sure it's totally clean. This will be my first time using a one bedroom... I'm thinking it might make a big difference.

 

[Phonedave]

You have NO idea how much I am looking forward to being able to RELAX in that tub. At home, even with all the medication I take, the only way I have any relief is with a deep hot bath. I already have my bath products packed and I'm brining my scrubbing bubbles to make sure it's totally clean. This will be my first time using a one bedroom... I'm thinking it might make a big difference.

To me a 1BR is a HUGE difference. I don't know about you, but I don't live in a studio apartment. At home I don't eat or relax and read / watch TV in my bedroom - I do that in the dining room / living room.

Whenever I am in a hotel room, I feel like I have downgraded and am living in a box. A 1BR has a much better "feel" to it - even if it is just me, and especially if it is more than just me.

-dave

 

[Annielkd]

To me a 1BR is a HUGE difference. I don't know about you, but I don't live in a studio apartment. At home I don't eat or relax and read / watch TV in my bedroom - I do that in the dining room / living room.

Whenever I am in a hotel room, I feel like I have downgraded and am living in a box. A 1BR has a much better "feel" to it - even if it is just me, and especially if it is more than just me.

-dave

Maybe that's always been part of the problem I didn't recognize. At home I have a large whirpool bath. My house is very large and has anything I need. I can relax in a recliner and watch tv. Maybe it's being cramped with a 10 year old cutting into privacy that was causing another isse I hadn't even considered. There is so much I'm going to do differently this year. I hope it's as magical as it can be! (It's our 15 year anniversary!)

 

[Annielkd]

Go For IT!

That's how I feel. Heck, even for my solo trips, I splurge and go for the 1 bedroom villa. The bathroom alone is worth the price.

Based on everything you said here.... splurge for the 600 points... you know how to use them!