Prices for November are outrageous!

[wideeyedwonder]

I pay a little over $2000 a year in dues and I have 10 days at BWV in Sep/Oct 2021 and 9 days at AKV in May 2022 worth nearly $15,000 total in current Disney similar room pricing. Yeah, I'm also glad I have DVC.

Similar, about $1600 a year in dues, and we were able to splurge on our last trip 2 weeks ago on Wilderness Lodge Copper Creek Cabins for 6 nights. I don't want to say how much 6 nights at the CCC is "worth" in a cash reservation, but it's A LOT. Plus the full kitchen (almost all of our breakfasts were in the cabin), plus the washer dryer (allowing us to pack lighter). Plus the DVC discounts on food and merchandise.

I would say that DVC only makes sense if you do A LOT of Disney (at least every other year), but if you DO do A LOT of Disney, it makes a lot of sense, mostly because of price inflation. When we bought way back when, it was debatable whether it made sense, given room prices THEN. However, given prices NOW for rooms, and the fact that we do heavily vacation Disney, it makes total sense.

The main problem now is that my wife is admittedly spoiled by the level of accommodations we can "afford" (using points) having bought so long ago.

We still might buy into DVC. Not sure yet. $50,000 initially though is the norm, right? That is what I researched through the years. Might be more now.

Depends on the number of "points" you buy, and the resort that you are buying into. Resale points are between $100 and $200 a "point" depending on the resort (except for Grand Californian...?), and if you buy from Disney directly or not. I don't want to get too far off topic, so I will direct you to the Disboards DVC section for more info, but the number of points you will need or want depends on the type of accommodation you will usually want (studio, 1br, 2br, grand villa, etc.), and the "season" that you will usually stay (off season costs less points), and the day(s) of the week you want to stay. For example, Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary could "cost" 25-56 points per night for a 1br that sleeps five, or 13-29 points for a studio that sleeps 4. So conceivably 100 points could be a "reasonable" amount, and that would cost ~$10,000 - $20,000. Again, the main draw for DVC is to protect against price inflation, and mostly only makes sense if you do every other year Disney or more, in my opinion.

I paid under $17k but I bought a small resale contract - 125 points. I wanted something small enough to that we didn’t ’have‘ to go every year and wouldn’t get a bigger room than we usually needed if we skipped a year.

This. Also, if you don't go every year, you can get a smaller number of points, and "bank" or "borrow" them to and from years, to get better or longer accommodations for the years you do go. 100-150 is perfectly reasonable, and even 50-100 points is reasonable if you don't go every year, and bank/borrow them to the years you do go.

 

[focusondisney]

I beg to differ. They (room rates) have gone up in the past few years substantially.

Exactly this! Maybe folks haven’t been paying attention, but the rack rates of all categories of rooms have increased substantially ay least the last 3 years. About 8 years ago, we stayed at GF in the Royal Palm club for about $800 a night with any AP discount. Now, regular deluxe rooms are going for considerably more than that. Moderate & value rates increased when they opened the skyliner. Disney used to announce the rates for the following year & never change them again til the next year. About 3 years ago, they started to quietly raise rates during the year. So rates have been raised at least twice a year recently. And it was about 5 years ago Iger announced they were gonna to “wean” the public off discounts.

So none of this is surprising. The pandemic & anniversary just gave them an excuse for what was already happening.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

It's not just Disney. We have the Swan booked for Thanksgiving break and the flights are crazy expensive. Still waiting for them to come down to earth some.

Hmmm, with the "pandemic that shall not be named", airlines cut their capacity drastically; just recently, with demand picking up, (American Airlines even canceled flights because of staffing shortages. It will take a while for the airlines to ramp up to previous capacity, all while having a tremendous surge in demand as people hungry for delayed vacations travel by air. In other words, keep watching prices, and grab them if they *do* come back to Earth, but be prepared if they stay high or go higher...

 

[Eastern]

It's not just Disney. We have the Swan booked for Thanksgiving break and the flights are crazy expensive. Still waiting for them to come down to earth some.

Not sure that will happen. The price for any holiday or weekend travel is ridiculous. And for the flights I have been checking, it doesn't go down. When I look at the seating charts the planes are empty.

 

[Beachmom0317]

Banking and borrowing is easy. It's the 50% borrowing restriction that was implemented during the pandemic that is is impacting owners of small contracts the most.

And owning is so much easier than renting. I can check availability in real time. I can book my home resorts 11 months in advance without the need to line someone up or hope that the rental agency has an owner at a particular resort. If I don't own at a must-do resort, I can get a points transfer from another owner who does. And I always retain control of my reservation.

I've seen 100-point contracts selling for under $15,000. That's enough to get you some pretty nice accommodations every 3 years with banking & borrowing.

I agree owning is way easier. I can see availability in real time (it changes all the time). Since we have a small contract I have gotten transfers before and I also rent points from other owners! It really depends on the need of each family as far as the pros and cons. DH And I are in our 30’s with young kids and we paid off our timeshare loan in less than a year. Since we are a young family we were good with the length of Copper Creek’s contract which is long. It’s definitely a huge commitment so I would do TONS of research on where you want to own, your UY and whether it makes financial sense

 

[Cheburashka]

Yeah. It is insane. I have a friend paying $700 a night at Boardwalk that mid-November week. It is because it is the 50th and the last week of Food and Wine I guess. We are paying $375 a night for a moderate motel. I usually pay that at the Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental when I travel and you get a lot more. People are paying it. Coronado Springs only have $1000 a night rooms left, same with Contemporary, and Grand Floridian is $900 a night (basic room). $500 for the cabins at Fort Wilderness.

And for what they charge, they still aren't offering daily housekeeping.

 

[Sue M]

Exactly this! Maybe folks haven’t been paying attention, but the rack rates of all categories of rooms have increased substantially ay least the last 3 years. About 8 years ago, we stayed at GF in the Royal Palm club for about $800 a night with any AP discount. Now, regular deluxe rooms are going for considerably more than that. Moderate & value rates increased when they opened the skyliner. Disney used to announce the rates for the following year & never change them again til the next year. About 3 years ago, they started to quietly raise rates during the year. So rates have been raised at least twice a year recently. And it was about 5 years ago Iger announced they were gonna to “wean” the public off discounts.

So none of this is surprising. The pandemic & anniversary just gave them an excuse for what was already happening.

Exactly . Glad we got to stay in the RPC once! I don’t think that’s ever going to happen again sadly. It’s crazy what their charging for just regular deluxe rooms. In Aug we’re staying at CBR. Not paying those prices for Deluxe at wdw.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We still might buy into DVC. Not sure yet. $50,000 initially though is the norm, right? That is what I researched through the years. Might be more now.

I saw a BCV resale of 160 points at $25000 for a 21 year contract. Add in yearly dues for the 21 years (based on cost trend over 5 years) and that will be about another $37000 for a grand total of $62000 over the life of the contract. This is strictly a PIF deal, if you have to finance it, then it will be more, based on your loan.
This is over simplifying it but this breaks down to spending about $3000 a year. The 160 points at BCV would give you roughly 9 -12 studio nights, and if you go to a 1 Bdrm you could get 4-6 nights a year. The biggest issues we have with DVC are 1) Between my DW and I, it is very hard to make plans 11 month's out and once you get to the 7 month window, most if not all the popular DVC resorts are booked. 2) The studios offer the best deals but only offer 1 bed and a pullout, we slept on BWV pullout and did not like it. Plus once the pullout is open the room becomes very cramped.
Like you, we are looking into it but, it's the initial purchase price that is holding us back, and we will never do a loan for a DVC, just not smart, unless it's a very low interest and you plan on paying it off early.

 

[disneydentist]

I saw a BCV resale of 160 points at $25000 for a 21 year contract. Add in yearly dues for the 21 years (based on cost trend over 5 years) and that will be about another $37000 for a grand total of $62000 over the life of the contract. This is strictly a PIF deal, if you have to finance it, then it will be more, based on your loan.
This is over simplifying it but this breaks down to spending about $3000 a year. The 160 points at BCV would give you roughly 9 -12 studio nights, and if you go to a 1 Bdrm you could get 4-6 nights a year. The biggest issues we have with DVC are 1) Between my DW and I, it is very hard to make plans 11 month's out and once you get to the 7 month window, most if not all the popular DVC resorts are booked. 2) The studios offer the best deals but only offer 1 bed and a pullout, we slept on BWV pullout and did not like it. Plus once the pullout is open the room becomes very cramped.
Like you, we are looking into it but, it's the initial purchase price that is holding us back, and we will never do a loan for a DVC, just not smart, unless it's a very low interest and you plan on paying it off early.

If you factor in lost income on the initial $25,000 (leaving out the annual dues) then the real cost per year is even higher. At a 5% return that's another $1250. Also oversimplifying but that raises the annual cost to around $4250 year. Right now we just booked AKL pool view for $325/night. That's a slight splurge since we usually book Gran Destino Tower.

Ultimately, it's all about whether you want/need the additional amenities that come with the villas and if you want to stay deluxe. If those are important then DVC (paid in cash) is probably worth it.

 

[Sue M]

They are the same price for next year. November has just started opening up (500 days) and BC is $600 a night. CBR $340. Pop $200+. ASM at $150ish which isn't horrible but I remember seeing ASM for under $100.

We are looking to go November 2022 and I don't know what to do. DD really wants to stay at BC but I'm not paying $600 a night but I'm afraid to rent points. I don't want to do a value for 8 nights so maybe a split stay. UGH. I won't stay offsite because vacation means no driving but I guess I could use Uber.

Wow! I don’t know if we’ll ever stay deluxe again . I’m not paying those prices. The value just isn’t there. And $340 for moderate yikes. And I’d die before I paid $200 for Pop. For a tiny room in a cement bunker! The new rooms are nice, but it’s still a value. Lipstick on a pig lol. We stayed as they were refurbishing rooms and we were in 90’s. They should be ashamed. That pool is worse than any community pool I’ve ever seen.
For me this just means more Universal trips. Their hotels are still reasonable.

 

[Cheburashka]

The biggest issues we have with DVC are 1) Between my DW and I, it is very hard to make plans 11 month's out and once you get to the 7 month window, most if not all the popular DVC resorts are booked. 2) The studios offer the best deals but only offer 1 bed and a pullout, we slept on BWV pullout and did not like it. Plus once the pullout is open the room becomes very cramped.

This. The studios just aren't the same as a regular resort room. With the second bed out it feels a little bit like someone's camping out in the room, with the living space taken up and sofa cushions everywhere. If you only need one bed it's fine, but if you need two beds, it just isn't as good as a regular resort room.

That, and the fact that once you've given Disney all the money for decades of trips in advance, you're essentially their hostage in terms of ticket/annual pass price increases & customer-unfriendly policies, such as shorter park hours, that seem to be constantly occurring at Disney World.

 

[npatellye]

We still might buy into DVC. Not sure yet. $50,000 initially though is the norm, right? That is what I researched through the years. Might be more now.

We bought in direct for quite a bit under $50k in December 2019 at Riviera with pre-opening incentives. We pay under $1700 a year in dues (though it will go up now that we added on more direct points this week). Those points got us 8 nights at Thanksgiving: 4 nights in a one bedroom lake view at BLT and then a 2 bedroom from early Thanksgiving week until after Thanksgiving. Then, we stayed in a 2 bedroom lake view villa at GF for 7 nights and 1 bedroom AKV for 1 night in May. A chunk of that was courtesy of a good friend who couldn’t use her points and transferred them to me for free; we just transferred an equal amount of points back to her the other day.

Our next trip is from late December to early January 2022, also on points and we are doing a 1 bedroom savanna view at AKV for 1 night and a 1 bedroom at BCV for 7 nights (full trip includes staying through NYE).

This is why we finally decided to buy in: accommodations at Disney were pricing us out (and we were tired of 4 of us being in one hotel room) and, with two young children (now both in school but only 1 was in school then), we knew we would eventually be held to traveling during more expensive travel seasons that aligned to the school calendar.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Wow! I don’t know if we’ll ever stay deluxe again . I’m not paying those prices. The value just isn’t there. And $340 for moderate yikes. And I’d die before I paid $200 for Pop. For a tiny room in a cement bunker! The new rooms are nice, but it’s still a value. Lipstick on a pig lol. We stayed as they were refurbishing rooms and we were in 90’s. They should be ashamed. That pool is worse than any community pool I’ve ever seen.
For me this just means more Universal trips. Their hotels are still reasonable.

Yea our deluxe days may be over too. Unless we rent points which I did once and it was great but I’m much more nervous to rent now.

 

[shh]

And I’d die before I paid $200 for Pop.

lol....wasn't that long ago that you could score a $79/night room at POP. Now $200 and $15 for the "privilege" of parking on their open asphalt lot - not even covered parking. We haven't stayed onsite since they added parking fees. I don't like parking fees, but I'll grudgingly pay as long as it's covered parking. Their lot is a joke to charge for.

 

[MickMick]

I just decided to stay off property and got a cheap little rental car. The value wasn't there for me. I'm not sure if EMH will be back by November.

 

[Nabas]

I just decided to stay off property and got a cheap little rental car. The value wasn't there for me. I'm not sure if EMH will be back by November.

Disney already has announced that EMH are never coming back.

EMH eventually will be replaced by something called "Early Theme Park Entry", which let's onsite Guests enter 30 minutes ahead of official park opening.

Here's the official announcement from Disney:

COMING SOON​

• Early Theme Park Entry: We know how much guests enjoy extra park time, so coming later this year as part of our 50th anniversary celebration, Disney Resort hotel guests and guests of other select hotels will be able to enjoy more fun with 30-minute early entry to ANY theme park, EVERY day. It’ll be a great way to get a jump start on your Disney day, no matter the day! As a reminder, the Extra Magic Hours benefit was suspended when Walt Disney World Resort reopened last summer, and as we continue to manage attendance with health and safety top of mind, Extra Magic Hours will not return. The new early theme park entry benefit helps us better spread visitation across all four theme parks, while providing added flexibility by giving guests extra early park time on each day of their vacation and in the park of their choosing. Please note that guests need valid admission and a park reservation made via the Disney Park Pass system to enter a theme park.

 

[shh]

Disney already has announced that EMH are never coming back.

EMH eventually will be replaced by something called "Early Theme Park Entry", which let's onsite Guests enter 30 minutes ahead of official park opening.

Here's the official announcement from Disney:

COMING SOON​

• Early Theme Park Entry: We know how much guests enjoy extra park time, so coming later this year as part of our 50th anniversary celebration, Disney Resort hotel guests and guests of other select hotels will be able to enjoy more fun with 30-minute early entry to ANY theme park, EVERY day. It’ll be a great way to get a jump start on your Disney day, no matter the day! As a reminder, the Extra Magic Hours benefit was suspended when Walt Disney World Resort reopened last summer, and as we continue to manage attendance with health and safety top of mind, Extra Magic Hours will not return. The new early theme park entry benefit helps us better spread visitation across all four theme parks, while providing added flexibility by giving guests extra early park time on each day of their vacation and in the park of their choosing. Please note that guests need valid admission and a park reservation made via the Disney Park Pass system to enter a theme park.

that's awful...didn't realize they were discontinuing it permanently. It was the whole reason I used to stay onsite - for the EVENING EMH - loved it. With that gone, it's extra reason for me to never stay on site again. We have zero interest in early morning entry....refuse to set alarms and race with the masses in the early am on vacation.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

This is why we finally decided to buy in: accommodations at Disney were pricing us out (and we were tired of 4 of us being in one hotel room) and, with two young children (now both in school but only 1 was in school then), we knew we would eventually be held to traveling during more expensive travel seasons that aligned to the school calendar.

We are the opposite, we actually love being in the same room with our 2 DDs. There have been so many great memories because we are all together and not heading off into a separate room. Nights when we are all laying in bed just talking about the day we had at the park and the park were going to next. To us, those times are precious. I agree about WDW pricing us out also, especially the deluxe resorts, plus we never felt like the deluxes are really "all that", and since we have no issues with a single room, we have no issue with staying at Mods and Value's. But now their prices are getting ridiculous, we have started looking offsite and more at US.

 

[Meglen]

If you compare owning dvc to renting dvc the savings tends to be smaller. To each there own. Do the math and see if it works for your budget and family. Myself I couldn't upfront 30k than pay 3k a year when I can book dolphin or a mod for 2-3k or rent for that time for 2-3k

 

[Nabas]

that's awful...didn't realize they were discontinuing it permanently. It was the whole reason I used to stay onsite - for the EVENING EMH - loved it. With that gone, it's extra reason for me to never stay on site again. We have zero interest in early morning entry....refuse to set alarms and race with the masses in the early am on vacation.

In addition to EMH ending, DME is ending next year.

This means that the 2 best perks for staying on site are over.

I’m not a fan of Disney’s theme park bus service or Skyliner - I’ve been left stranded for over an hour by both in the past. I always prefer to drive at WDW. Of course, Disney now charges for hotel parking, which was a third reason to stay onsite.

Disney better do something for onsite Guests with its FastPass+ replacement. Otherwise, staying onsite really has little advantage.