Is DVC worth it?

We're not owners yet, but it's always an option depending on circumstances. This thread offers quite a bit of deliberation, mathematics, and opinions. Hope it helps!

Where would you be buying if you purchased?

Marzyar,

There is a lot to your question, but I'll try to touch upon it for a moment.

We went back and forth about it for a long time before deciding to do it. It's really not for everyone, but the bottom line is, if you truly love Disney, this will get you the opportunity to get you there more often.

They are running deals all the time where they credit you back some cash which you can use toward your down payment. Also, if you buy into a resort that hasn't opened yet, you get free points to use elsewhere.

Right now is a good time to buy, you can choose between Animal Kingdom Villas and Bay Lake Towers. I beleive the will, or already have reopened sales at Saratoga Springs due to the opening of the Treehouse Villas.

As far as discounts, the main one that stands out is the Annual Pass discount. Adult APs are $392 instead of the close to $500 without the DVC discount.

There is much more to it than that, this just scratched the surface. I hope it answered a few of your questions. Any others, just ask.

__________________

Upcoming Trips

July 2010 - Old Key West

Oct 2010 - Boardwalk Villas

Imagineer definitely hit on the key perks! There are also some smaller perks that we found to be enticing!

Discounts of 10-20% at certain sit down restaurants.

Discounts of up to 50% on Disney's Broadway productions.

We've been OKW since '95 and have never thought twice that it wasn't for us. In fact, it was a perfect investment for vacation fun.

Notice I said it was a "vacation fun" investment. I have no idea whether it is a good financial investment. Don't care.

I've had more fun the past 14 years plotting and planning and manipulating points and always knowing I'm going to have a quality vacation when I visit Disney.

If I was getting ready to buy DVD today, I'd look seriously at the resale market. You can get some really good deals on occasion.

I think this is actually a much better way to look at it. It's a "lifestyle" more than an "investment." Having to take regular vacations may improve your life. There are probably several things that work out as "advantages" for some. One perk I will mention that makes the financial analysis a little better is getting $100 off your Annual Pass. That can recoup you a bit of your maintenance fees.

We were lucky in that when we bought in 95, we got free park tickets for the rest of that decade.

Every time you went to Disney, you could get free admittance daily for each night that you were registered. Saved us a LOT of money over the course of that five years or so.

Wow, that's a great deal. I'm surprised you didn't hear more complaining when that went away.

Two things that made DVC "worth it" to me.

One, when we bought into it, I had been doing some part time contract work for a company for several years. Didn't spend a lot of time on it, but got a steady check each month that I promptly blew on something (usually something that I couldn't account for 30 days later). The day we bought I allocated that money toward the monthly payment and that is how we paid for our points.

Two, the other thing that has made it worthwhile for me has been the ability to take my dad with me since day one.

Nothing like providing a vacation for loved ones and knowing it is already paid for.

There are some things about DVC ownership that just don't follow normal accounting rules!

Those are good points. I think that's the key point of DVC that I've picked up. If you're doing it, do it for reasons other than the finances.

There are a few things that one needs to consider about the "worthiness" of a DVC membership.

1. If you are used to budget accommodations and don't want anything fancy other than a place to sleep, then DVC isn't for you. You will not save any money, and all the amenities that DVC membership provides will be wasted on you.

2. If you want your room to have some resemblance of "home", such as having at least a kitchenette and a refrigerator, and you normally stay in either the Moderate or Deluxe resort, then DVC membership will not only makes sense, but might also be a money-saving option.

3. As my DVC rep told me, look at the worthiness of a DVC membership based ONLY on what you are paying and what you are getting in return in terms of vacation and accommodations, NOT on the "perks". This is because the perks are not and never guaranteed and should not be used as a factor in determining if you want to buy into it or not. That way, if a perk goes away, won't be too highly disappointed in terms of value.

4. Note that DVC resorts such as AKL and Bay Lake Tower may have the highest maintenance fees, while SSR has the lowest. If SSR is still open and is an option to buy, you need to consider if you are willing to pay a higher amount each year simply to get that 11-month booking window at AKL or BLT, or if that 8-month window is sufficient. If you never book anything further than 8 months away, then wanting to buy at BLT, for example, makes no sense since you are not using the one advantange of having your home resort there, while ending up with high yearly maintenance fee.

We have 340 points, all at SSR. We have stayed at SSR, AKL, OKW, and Boardwalk. We seldom book beyond 8 months, so wanting one resort over SSR just to get that 11-month booking window doesn't work for us.

Zz.

That's really good information ZapperZ. Have you ever been unable to stay where you wanted because of the shorter window?

No, we haven't. If we book 6 to 8 months before, I don't remember not getting the resort that we want. The few times that we couldn't get the resort that we wanted, we were booking about 3 months before our arrival. Even our home resort were difficult to get for the whole 1-week stay.

Zz.

Same with us. The DVC wait list is a marvelous thing. I think only once in 14 years have we NOT gotten what we wanted and we've been on the wait list probably 8 or 10 times.
The one time we didn't was when we booked less than 45 days out.

It's interesting, because all the DVC reps you talk to make you feel like it's a huge issue which resort you pick for your home because of that, while I'm always thinking, "If I have to book 11 months out to get the room I want, I'm screwed, I never plan that far in advance."