Vacation Club

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Dec Sun 30, 2007 2:34 pm

My wife and i were planning on going foward with the vacation club and before we do i wanted to know if any on here has any input on the idea pros and cons

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » Dec Sun 30, 2007 5:16 pm

The only con is how much it costs nowadays

, especially if you buy from a resort that has less than 50 years left. Our family bought it in '93 and then watched the price skyrocket.

Other than that it's all Pros IMO (and we haven't even used Adventures by Disney yet which I hear is fantastic)

My favorite part about it is how the resorts will cater to you. Staying at the Yacht Club in August was our first time not staying at a DVC resort. It was nice, but it was not DVC. It's almost like the difference between staying off site and staying at Disney. Plus there's tons of discounts that our family is still discovering with DVC. Whenever you do or buy anything with Disney ask if there's a DVC discount.

But shhhh... remember... it's the best kept Disney secret...

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Dec Sun 30, 2007 6:36 pm

we took the tour at the saratoga springs resort in march and it sounded real good seeing we like to go atleast once a year it would pay for itself in a few years with the resorts and stuff we usually stay at the all stars when we go we stayed at the beach club in 04 for our honeymoon and there was no comparison to the 2 the beach club blew us away but thats the difference with a 2500.00 ver 5500.00 vacation inc airfair 2 . i figured 17,000 for 50 years worth of vacations at a better resort. even with the fees it still is worth it in the long run

SeasDiver · Post by **SeasDiver** » Dec Sun 30, 2007 7:01 pm

My parents have been members since 1993. It has been well worth it.

Even with the price increases since then, the economics make sense if you will be frequently vacationing at Disney.

You should think of it as prepaid vacation, not as a real estate investment since the contract does expire. As an investment, it is not worthwhile since it saves you money in the future, it does not necessarily grow in value itself and you don't own anything after the contract expires.

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Dec Sun 30, 2007 8:09 pm

sounds like a good idea based on my needs and all the info from everyone ive gone every year since 1997 so i think it would of payed for itself already thanks everyone

ericpabear · Post by **ericpabear** » Dec Mon 31, 2007 8:10 pm

We are DVC members. I try to go to the resort that uses the least amount of points so we can go twice in the year. We also get annual passes and plan our vacations around the expiration dates. That way we only pay for travel and meals. There are discounts on meals, tickets, merchandise...... for DVC members. Do be aware the fees go up evrey year by a few dollars. Not much, but it keeps going up.

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Jan Tue 01, 2008 10:23 am

i would do the same thing with the resort find the least expensive how much is the discount on tickets

ericpabear · Post by **ericpabear** » Jan Tue 01, 2008 2:56 pm

MEMBER PRICING & SAVINGS
______________________________

Walt Disney World Admission - Member Discounted Prices
â€“ 365 days of access Ages 10+ - Ages 3-9
______________________________________________________________

Annual Pass price: $348.00 - $307.00
Savings on regular price: $100.00 - $88.00
Savings on Florida Resident price: $2.00 - $1.00
____________________________________________________________

Annual Pass Renewal price: $315.00 - $278.00
Savings on regular price: $93.00 - $82.00
Savings on Florida Resident price : None - None

_____________________________________________________________

Premium Annual Pass price: $454.00 - $400.00
Savings on regular price: $125.00 - $110.00
Savings on Florida Resident price: $5.00 - $4.00

___________________________________________________________

Premium Annual Pass Renewal price: $414.00 - $365.00
Savings on regular price : $115.00 - $101.00
Savings on Florida Resident price: None - None

(For some reason the spaceing between the ages & the prices, doesn't remain. The first price reflects ages 10+. the second prices is for ages 3-9.)

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Jan Tue 01, 2008 5:25 pm

thanks is there discounts on regular passes like a 7 8 or 9 day passes

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Jan Wed 02, 2008 9:41 am

ericpabear, just to be clear, are these the prices for DVC members only or anyone? The only reason I ask is because I remember pricing out the AP and it was $475 (about) after taxes that is for a first timer. I just want to clarify it because if I can get something for cheaper I'm in.

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » Jan Wed 02, 2008 10:02 am

Some things that I feel are deceptive (okay that might be too hard a word, but I know a lot of people don't think about it) about DVC.

First off while you can "exchange" your points fro stays at other Disney Resorts, and non-disney resorts. The "cost" is rarely worth it. The exchange rate is something like USD to Euro's right now. With that said if you see yourself going to Disney once every year or three, it's not bad. But I don't like the way they play up the exchange part.

Second, you are buying/leasing in for ~50 years. Not that can't sell it, it is deed property, but after 50 years it reverts back to Disney. This is both a pro and con, you don't have to worry about the maintenance on a 50yo building (walk into a 1957 building, and think about all the work that has to be done, Insulation, network, power, etc none of that is up to 2008 standards) on the other hand children are not going to inherit it for long.

Third, the upfront initial cost is about 10% of the total cost. Assuming there are no "special assessments" and the average annual MF increase is 3% (which is not unreasonable, based on the previous 15 years.) You'll pay about $150,000 on 200pts over the next 50 years.

Forth, Home resort advantage. Pick one that you want to stay at. The way booking works is you can book 11/6 months out from your CHECK-OUT date. If you want to stay at AKL or Boardwalk you really need to be able to book 11 months out (with AKL it might change, when the new space comes on line.) A lot of people book by booking the first day of their stay 11months out, and then the next day book the next, and link it back to the first day, etc... I've seen a lot of people bitch that they bought SSR and now they can't book BWV because it's always full (even though they where "promissed" by the guide they could.)

With all that said, my wife (wth her Dad) as been a member since '93 (OKW) and we've (my wife and I) have been members since Feb'07 (DAKL.) And we are happy with it. I do think a lot of people are buying without really knowing much about it (a trip impulse purchase.)

johno

Post by **YZFDonor** » Jan Wed 02, 2008 11:03 am

I can also say as long as you know what you are buying:
50 year 'lease' - or maybe less depending on resort
MONTHLY Maintenance fees/Dues
Large initial up-front investment
Staying outside the Disney Hotels and DVC Resorts is nice but do NOT buy for the other locations

We bought OKW, which just got a 15 year extension, in 1996 and my only regret is we didn't buy when I first heard about it in 1992! (and maybe we need more points but I am not made of $) I have NO real complaints about DVC and am proud to "own a place at WDW". I could complain that getting accomodations at the hotter locations is nerve racking and difficult but I have NEVER not been able to stay exactly where I wanted including the Beach Club Villas.

jcodirewolf · Post by **jcodirewolf** » Jan Wed 02, 2008 12:05 pm

A few other things people miss...

Sure you can "pay" for DVC in 7 trips over rack rate at a deluxe resort. But if you really go to Disney once or more times per year (if you only go every 3-5 years, then the math is very different) you can find a lot of discounts (like AAA or AP or Disney Visa or even the Disney website package deals.) In general the break even point adjusting for inflation, and taking discounts in account is more realistically like 10-15 years. It really matters when you go down and what you do.

If you are going down for a park commando weekend, it's can still be better to pay $79/night for a value room than 8-12 points for a studio at a DVC (in general DVC points this year are worth about 5$/pt in MF and 2$/pt/yr for buy-in, or about $7/pt which means you are paying between $56-84/night.) Yea it's upgrade to a nicer room, but hey if you are going to take 2 showers, and be in the room for a total of ~16 hours what do you care?

Also remember when you stay at DVC on DVC points you aren't on a Disney "package" so things like free meal plan isn't available to you. This really upsets a lot of DVCers, there have been times when people have booked "value" packages with free dining, and been "upgraded" to DVC. DVC is overflow for resorts, Disney continues to own something like 30% (it's in the condo docs) of the total points at each DVC resort.

Also DVC is designed to be ~90% full year round. And due to the way the point system works they can't run "specials" they can move points around between seasons, but total in each "class" has to stay the same per year and the can only change it for the upcoming year, right now the point costs for 2008 are locked in. And I think 2009.

Again I'm not knocking on DVC it can be good we are members. But they guys who are selling DVC are selling timeshares. And they are going to rig the math in their favor.

johno

sparkyjmg · Post by **sparkyjmg** » Jan Wed 02, 2008 9:17 pm

Great info thanks

ericpabear · Post by **ericpabear** » Jan Thu 03, 2008 10:05 pm

sparkyjmg wrote:thanks is there discounts on regular passes like a 7 8 or 9 day passes

I was just scanning the DVC site, and I don't see discounts on those tickets. Maybe I missed it.