Is Anyone a DVC Member?

[Ralphlaw]

The dues thing is NOT publicized during the sales pitches, but they are important. In fact, I would hazard to guess that the annual dues is why so many people decide to sell their ownership around January.

They run from a low of about $4 per point at Baylake and Grand Californian to nearly $7 per point at Vero Beach. Most others are in the $5 per point range. Do the math, 250 points at the Boardwalk would have about $5.45 per point due every year, or $1,363.50!!!! By contrast, 250 Baylake points would cost $4.22 per point, or $1,055!!!! It's all a yearly ouch!

Honestly, if I would have had it explained to me that way, I might not have bought. But since then, I like the roomier villas, the washer/dryer (which means less luggage on the planes that charge per bag), and the benefits in these nicer resorts.

We're staying in a Boardwalk standard view for 5 nights around Christmas, and that would probably cost around $3,200 for a standard hotel room. With DVC, it was 156 points for a one bedroom villa with far more room AND a washer/dryer AND a bunch of member discounts and other perks. It's also become a small hobby, trying to call at exactly 8:00 a.m. central time at the 7 or 11 month windows, tabulating points, and generally playing the DVC game. Yeah, it borders on a mental illness.

 

[Bcakd]

My husband and I are really thinking of buying in. My sister and her family bought last month at AKL and are taking us on a "kid-free" weekend in October for The Food and Wine Festival. I LOVE Disney! Our 4 year old loves it, and my husband is in the "liking it a lot" stage. We usually go every 18 months. I would love to go more, and I think it was be smart in the end.....especially, for the amount of years it's good for. But, my husnand has questions about international travel. He wants to go to Italy and Ecuador (?). Of course these places take lots of points, so he thinks it would not benefit us to buy in. I don't know?!?!?!?
Anyone on here ever went on any of the European getaways with DVC? Please Help!!! All advice will be appreciated and considered!

 

[mateomouse]

The key to saving money with DVC is to be careful about where you make your home resort, of course it depends on what is available. For example, my home is Boardwalk, which is one of the more expensive homes as far as fees goes because the DVC fees go toward maintaining the everything on the property, including the Boardwalk itself. Bay Lake has a lower fee because some of the maintenance fees are payed for by non DVC guests at the Contemporary, and I assume the same can be said for the new Grand Floridian DVC opening soon.

 

[GoofGoof]

The key to saving money with DVC is to be careful about where you make your home resort, of course it depends on what is available. For example, my home is Boardwalk, which is one of the more expensive homes as far as fees goes because the DVC fees go toward maintaining the everything on the property, including the Boardwalk itself. Bay Lake has a lower fee because some of the maintenance fees are payed for by non DVC guests at the Contemporary, and I assume the same can be said for the new Grand Floridian DVC opening soon.

VGF is $5.41 per point. BWV $5.84. VGF seems high compared to BLT. BLT is lower due to the building being a high rise.

 

[JWG]

Size matter. There are very limited # of owners at VGF, so those costs will be split over a smaller number of people. Fees aren't paid by the resort guests. All DVC related costs are covered by dues. Supposedly shared resources are split costs based on occupancy % (i.e. mousekeeping and check-in, etc.).

 

[Ralphlaw]

Here's the other thing: You can sell, possibly at a profit.

I bought 160 points into Bay Lake Tower in 2010 at $102 per point. Since then, I've paid annual dues of about $700 per year, for a total of about $2,000. Right now, Baylake points are selling on timeshare.com for about the same price of $102. Yes, there'll be some commissions if I sell, but in the meantime, I've had:

11 nights in a 1 bedroom standard view at Baylake.
2 nights in studios at Animal Kingdom Lodge (1 standard view, 1 savanna view).
4 nights at a Boardwalk 1 bedroom Boardwalk view, and
4 nights at the Grand Californian (studio).

That's 21 nights in great deluxe accommodations, which would probably have cost well in excess of $5,000 without DVC.

Again, I could sell tomorrow for about the same price as I paid to get in, meaning that I paid about $2,000 in maintenance fees for 21 nights of deluxe hotel rooms. That's pretty cheap--less than $100 per night.