Sell me on the Disney Vacation Club

[Nineinchnailsmk]

Okay, i have the video, the book and the information all one could need. Now all i need is to be sold on this club....lol.

My fiancee and i are thinking about joining once we both recieve our raises. the way we look at it is this: we have one more than 11 months left on our apt lease.

i think it would be a great deal, but does anyone out there (im sure theres a few of you) have it and what are the major benefits. What about this "itll pay for itself in 5-6 years" business? does it really work that way if you go every year? how does the point system work? how many points can you borrow from the upcoming year? 12,600 is a lot of money, but i think its something that i would love.

what happens after 40 years?

do the point rates stay the same? will the po:riverside, and the contemporary be the same 30 years down the road as they are now?

those are the questions i ahve and any help would be greatly appreciated!
:veryconfu

 

[SewIn2Disney]

I was wondering the exact same thing too! I just got the video in the mail and I'm sooo confused. I don't quite understand the point system or the fact that it expires in the year 2042 (or something like that) Help!

Thanks for posing such a good question Nineinchnailsmk.

 

[Nineinchnailsmk]

hey, no problem,

i know, isnt it confusing?

I mean, it sounds like a steal...it makes me wonder if its too good to be true.

 

[goofyman]

WOW so many questions. First, all your answers can be found in the book you rec. or on this site or the DVC site.But to answer a few. I thinks it's great. But you have to look at what you are buying it for. Just to visit WDW every year or trade it for other place. We went to Hawaii this year and it was a 5+ star resort!
As for the points, they stay the same each year so the idea is the price of the hotel generally goes up each year but you pay the same (In point) You can borrow as many points you have available. For exaple, if you bought the base 150 pts. you could borrow all 150 from the next year. Thats what actually make this a more flexable program than most. and a big reason we chose Disney over othrs. As for the years no one is sure what will happen then, poss. a special buy back in. I will be 80 so not worrying about it LOLOL. But thats kind of answering your question as to will the hotel be the same 40 years down the road. Thats kind of what Disney's idea was when they started this. also not knowing how popular it would be. But, the way that the value stays the same is by staying in you home resort. Like beach club. The points for the other resorts tend to be higher ( Non DVC) You also might want to think about finacing. But in all I believe the flexbilty is what makes this plan. You can add to your points, get a 1 bedroom one year , or a 2 or a studio. or maybe split up your points and go 2 times a year. You can skip year and bank points and get a biger room or multple rooms. Our trip this year we had 2 studios instead of a 1 bedroom and I took my brother and his family down with us. That what I bought it for , to share the magic!
Sounds like you are sold alredy so GO FOR IT! and enjoy!!!

:sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[SewIn2Disney]

Wow, that does sound pretty cool. I know that the start up price is around 12,000, but how much are annual dues. Or does that depend on how many points you have?

Thanks for the help goofyman

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Originally posted by SewIn2Disney
Wow, that does sound pretty cool. I know that the start up price is around 12,000, but how much are annual dues. Or does that depend on how many points you have?

Thanks for the help goofyman

Annual dues are based on what resort your home resort is at, and (I think) how many points you have.

 

[Nut4Disney]

Annual dues for 2002

at each resort are as follows:

Old Key West - $3.22
Hilton Head - $3.49
Beach Club Villas - $3.77
Wilderness Lodge - $3.80
Boardwalk Villas - $3.92
Vero Beach - $4.17

 

[dreamer]

Disney Vacation Club only pays for itself in 5 to 6 years if you were planning on staying at a DVC property every year anyway (and paying the extremely high prices they charge) AND if you don't go at the premium times of year AND if you stay mainly weeknights and not Fri/Sat nights.

The points are NOT cost-effective if you use them at a Disney hotel or non-DVC resort. I don't think you would ever break even that way.

If you compare buying into DVC versus staying at a moderate resort every visit, I don't know if you would ever break even. Especially if you use "Mousesaver" discount codes and watch for deals. In any case it would take decades. If you compare staying at an economy resort you'd never break even.

I would recommend DVC if you
1. Like staying in a condo with a kitchen.
2. Plan on going to DW a lot and staying in luxury accomodations.
3. Don't mind NOT staying at Polynesian, GF, etc except occasionally.
4. Can afford it.

If finances are tight it would be much better to stick with economy (or even moderate if you get a good deal) resorts, put away the extra you save every month/year and then buy into DVC when finances are better in a few years. Disney keeps raising the prices but you can buy them through resale at lower rates. And Disney also gives deals through point buy-backs to reduce the investment involved.

Whatever, don't buy unless you're sure. I like DVC. I like the fact that when we leave Disney World we have a little piece to come back to the next year that's ours. But we have to have a 2BR condo to fit all our kids. We found ourselves renting those expensive condos anyway so it made sense to buy in. Plus we go skiing every year and DVC points can be used on a night-by-night basis at two of the places we frequent -- Snowbird and Keystone. And, we're fairly close to Hilton Head which we plan to visit once in a while.

On the other hand, I passed up many timeshares in the past and was never sorry I did. I just love DW so much and vacationing there every year works out well for our family.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Main Street USA]

My opinion is the same as above. I really can't see saving any money in short, or in the long run with DVC. Being able to have all of the options COMPLETELY open and not worry about whether or not I'm getting my money out of DVC is much more valuable than the club itself.

As said in the previous post, I think 99% of the public is better off educating themselves on where to find good deals,(mousesavers.com) and/or taking the time to plan and find the discounts that are ALWAYS available for your Disney vacation rather than spending 12 grand on the club.

 

[Nineinchnailsmk]

thanx for the great information. i was bummed when the disney club closed, i had a great discount with them. oh well, theres always other discounts. this is a major purchase im gonna think about for a while. thanx again

 

[mickeyfanatics]

Nineinchnailsmk - I do not have time this morning to type in all I know about DVC, but I can tell you it was the best investment I ever made and it allowed my family to stay at Disneyland this past summer. We are also going on an Alaskan Cruise in 2004. There is a thread where I already typed all I know, you can search for it. If not, I will try to post it again later.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

I do not own DVC for many of the reasons Dreamer mentioned.

Remember that even after you have paid off your $12,000 you will have yearly maintenance fees, which will go up year to year.

At approximately $4 each, 150 points will cost $600 annually. That is still (to me) a large amount of money. You will have to pay this even if you don't make it to WDW during that year. For me, it works better to put that money away and look for discounts.

No one can predict the future, of course, and I know that right now you want to spend every vacation at WDW (so do I ). But things may change. You are getting married, and may have children. Children and WDW are a perfect match, but things get more complicated as they get older. I don't care to get into the debate about taking them out of school, but it is a must for cheaper DVC rates. My older son started high school this year, and taking him out would hurt him quite a bit--so we won't do it. That leaves us with spring break or summer--not my first choices.

While I think I would love the extra room and laundry facilities at DVC properties, I am happy with a regular hotel room. We are commando tourists, and come back only to sleep and shower. I know that I am not DVC material.

My husband loves Disney, but he is not keen on spending every vacation for the next 40 years there. I must admit that he is right when he says that there is lots more of this country (and others!) that we haven't seen.

It's a huge amount of money for you two just starting out. Unless you make a conscious effort to keep your wedding small (less than 50 people), it will get out of hand. I think the average wedding is now in the $20,000 range. You will also want to think about buying a house.

Take your next few vacations to WDW and stay in each property to get a feel for them. You may decide that they don't work for you--that a regular hotel is fine. You may be totally taken with the idea.


Either way, there is no need to rush into this--there are plenty of resales available.

 

[DisneyPhD]

A few years after we got married we started taking an annaul trip to WDW each winter (get away from Michigan ) Well for 6 years in a row we went to WDW and right after our frist child was born (2001) we bought into DVC. We have not stayed at home yet (next trip March 2003 at BCV) and are really looking forward to it. So far my only regret is not getting into it sooner, but we were just starting out and both in grad school, needed the house and other things frist .

We really researched it before joining (it was winter, nothings else to do here ) I found some helpful DVC members at disboards.com

The intro price of 150 points only gets you a studio room, not that much better then a deluxe resort normal hotel room, but it does have a small kictenette (microwave, sink, freg and acess to washer and dryer.) One and 2 bedrooms are great. We have enough points (170) to do one year stuido, one year 1 bedroom if we borrow and bank. I wish we had more (220 would be perfect for us.)

You also can go every other year or not go on Friday or Sat to save points.

If you love WDW, want to always stay on property and have the money now, go for it. The sooner you do, the more use you get out of it.

I look forward to the next 40 years of WDW vactions (and if sometimes we want to do something different for a change, that is possible too, but not as good of a deal.) You can also give points away to family and friends for vacations or rent them for extra cash if you don't want them one year.

 

[goofyman]

One onther note for you to think about, The Maint. Fee is based on how many points you have and does not ness go up each year. As for the future this is great for kids as they grow so can the room you get. We look at it as our vacation is paid for for the next 40 years. God or bad salary year I don't have to worry, it's done. We also like to stay in the higher end resorts no matter where we go, and I am always up for a bargin but somethimes don't have the time or paitence to save a few $> You really have to look at it for YOU and how you travel. Like I had mentioned, we went to Hawaii this year and the BESt rate I could find for the Hotel we stayed ay was $400 per night! We traded on Disney, which trades the highest of ANY time share. Thats a bargin for me since I would have never stayed there for that price. Everyone makes a good point here and time sahre is not for everyone. It never was for us. But now looking back, to quote someone else "I wish I had done it earlier" Yes, you may want to look at resale but when you do look at ALL the cost involve sometime the low price has things like closing and agent fees. There are lots of other places to see in this world, this may give you the option to do them first class and sooner that you may have:animwink:

 

[Yellow Shoes]

Yes, resale may not be cheaper in the long run with the added fees.

What I meant was that if you are on the fence, you don't necessarily need to rush to buy into the next new property. You might look around and decide, for example, that OKW is your favorite, which is available only thru resale. With resale, your options are a little broader as to which property is "home".

 

[goofyman]

Originally posted by Yellow Shoes
Yes, resale may not be cheaper in the long run with the added fees.

What I meant was that if you are on the fence, you don't necessarily need to rush to buy into the next new property. You might look around and decide, for example, that OKW is your favorite, which is available only thru resale. With resale, your options are a little broader as to which property is "home".

That is a very good point, although you can stay at any DVC. The only real benefit to your home resort is, discount on park pass and 11 month advance bookings.

 

[Cheryl]

I agree with almost everything everyone said above.

My Husband and I bought into DVC back in August of 2000 and we could not have been happier. We of course took the financing so it's not paid off yet but in the long run, I really think it will. We are able to go down to Disney twice a year (a 10 day trip in the middle of Summer staying at the OKW and then a 4 day trip (Sunday through Wednesday) staying at either the Polynesian or Contemporary in early December) and all we really need to think about is making our PS arrangements, airline tickets (which you could always find at a good deal) and car rental or limo arrangements.

We wish we would have heard about this when it first started. It is a GREAT program and the extra 10% off at the Disney Store and some of the stores at DTD really helps too!

We couldn't be happier joining DVC!

 

[mickeyfanatics]

Please do not forget that DVC points can be traded and used at Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, the Disney Cruise Line, and over 350 worldwide destinations, including places like the Plaza Hotel in NY. It is an excellent investment if you plan to travel at least every other year. Then you can bank or borrow to have more points in one year. We take a bunch of short vacations and once every two years, a large one. In 2004, We are going on an Alaskan Cruise, staying in San Francisco, and revisiting Disneyland, all on DVC points. All I have to worry about now is the airfare, rental car, and food, no room costs. NO ROOM TAXES! In Florida that is 18%. If you really want more information, feel free to let me know and I can email you. I can give you a huge breakdown of how the club works. Even some of the kiosk people at WDW love when I come by because they say I can explain the club better than they can. :lol: