Is the Disney Vacation Club worth it?

[DisneyBarlans]

We're looking into the DVC, and just trying to decide if it's worth the money. We usually go twice a year on average, staying in a value resort, but next year I'll have to move up to a bigger room-we have 3 kids and the youngest is turning 3. Can anyone share your likes/dislikes about DVC?

 

[Castillo Mom]

I'm considering buying in as well. You may want to hop on over to the DVC board. They're very nice over there and would be best able to answer your questions.

 

[RachelTori]

We're looking into the DVC, and just trying to decide if it's worth the money. We usually go twice a year on average, staying in a value resort, but next year I'll have to move up to a bigger room-we have 3 kids and the youngest is turning 3. Can anyone share your likes/dislikes about DVC?

Well, since you live in the same city as me, I'll answer your question!!

You should spend some time in the DVC forum - you'll learn lots of info there; plus, that's really the best place to ask this question.

The short answer is -- there is no easy answer! We actively investigated it for over 2 years before finally deciding it was for us. Definitely take the tour, talk to other DVC owners (most of us are as DVC owners!), run the numbers and make sure it makes economic sense for your family, and don't sign the papers until you have answers to every single question you have.

There is so much to consider (home resort, use year, how many points do you need initially......) so take your time - don't rush into a decision.

"If" you decide it's right for your family, you'll join a great group of DVCers who will Welcome you Home!!

 

[bicker]

We "broke-even" on our DVC purchase a year or two ago. From now on (for another 25 years) we're getting week-long deluxe resort vacations (rooms that go for about $500 per night) for about $800 a week. However, as time has gone one, the price has increased to reflect the value. So it is hard to know, now, how far out the break-even point will be.

 

[Sammie]

One thing to consider if that you will need to purchase enough points to cover the occupany for 5 which unless you purchase at the new AKVillas, you will need a 2 bedroom.

Studios are occupany of 4 and one bedroom are officially 4 also even though they will let you book 5 but there is no bedding.

 

[DVC-Don]

If you go to WDW often and stay in moderates or deluxe resorts, then yes, I feel it has been worth it. We go down there about 2 or 3 times a year and are really getting our money worth out of our 2 contracts.

 

[tacomaranch]

I just figured out my cost if I had paid cash for DVC stays, this year was $5270. I paid just over $14K so am 1/3 of the way of paying for my DVC in just one year. That is a huge savings if we keep going so often.

For us it was a matter of ecnomics. Cash up front for a life time or pay over the years and have the price go up each year. We also get discounts on AP, resort rooms, dining, etc.

It is a choice only you can make and please go to the DVC section. A few people of there were key to helping us choose to buy. Then two members saved a vacation that went bad for us. They are like family.

 

[Esmerelda]

I really have nothing bad to say about DVC. Its been great for us. When we pay it off...we will still have a vacation for only association fee prices in about 5 yrs...that's great to me. If we have a year we can't go...we either bank the points or rent them so its a no win situation. The benefits are very nice that go with being a DVC member. If you go every year or at least e/o year....its totally worth it. It really sounds like a lot of money at the beginning but if you consider how much you spend for rooms at Disney...its really not the way it appears. You will end up saving money.

best of luck,
Esmerelda

 

[DanenRox]

DVC

LOVE

• Incredible Location (BCV) Walking into EPCOT/MGM...Priceless
• Generous Accommodations
• Able to Upsize or Downsize room size
• Ability, if desired, to sell contract or add-on

DON'T LOVE

• Having to compete for rooms
• Less variety at Food Courts
• Being left out of offers such as free dining
• Higher points required for Week-ends

Others, I'm sure, see things differently. This is just our opinion.​

 

[SEC]

We have been DVC owners for 7 years and it is worth it to us. Actually, we bought DVC through the mail and over the phone. It was a no brainer for us, once we received the information in the mail and pulled out 6 years of hotel bills at moderate and deluxe resorts. We figured we would break even in 4 years. Owning DVC is a great mental health boost, knowing you can always go to Disney and not have to spend time looking for a deal to see if you can afford to do it. We go for 2 weeks every year during F and W and sometime we go for a shorter trip (10 days) in May, it is well worth it!

 

[elijahpep]

Hey there DisneyBarlans and Costillo Mom!~ ITA with SEC, It's SOOOOOOOO Worth It!~

Welcome to the Dark Side!~ Opinions on DVC will probably be slanted towards good reviews here, but there are some really smart folks who answer all kinds of great questions honestly and generally with happy Disney enthusiam.

To us, the only drawback of DVC is that we didn't join sooner. We loved the FWcabins and the home like atmosphere of them during vacation, so we already were that type of home away from home thinkers. We just happened upon a kiosk the last day of a visit to WDW and said hey, why not take the tour. WE had NO IDEA we were about to fall in love, Disney Style.

With DVC you get all kinds of opportunities and if you're going 2x's a year then you should definitely look into DVC. With DVC you get $100 off each annual pass and with an annual pass you get the discount on DDE (20% off most Disney resturants) for the meals you choose not to eat in your rooms. Those DVC kitchens are the best for morning breakfast, late night snacks, nice easy dinners in the evening, after a long day at the parks or a a great lunch in the afternoon when you are doing the parks at night.

Washer/Dryers in villas 1bdrm or larger, so a load before bed, throw in the dryer before the parks and fold whenever. LESS packing is what I'm saying.

DVC allows you to vacation when you want, most times where you want (holy smokes the whole 11 month/7month window thing) at DVC resorts.
DVC resorts have the best pools as a group at Disney.

Add it all up and again, I wish we had joined DVC sooner. The best part of DVC. When you go home for the first time, and you are greeted with the first, "Welcome Home!~" and the tears swell up from anticipation, unforgettable.

The contracts are forever (not really but it seems like a long time), and you can deed them to your kids when they are older. (We're greedy and don't want to ever give them up, but alas we won't be here forever and the kids will be adults with their own Disney lovin kids someday)

Happy Researching the Best Keep Disney Secret!~


~DW

 

[hrsmom]

We bought in October and haven't used it yet, but we already wish we had bought sooner! We also are already thinking about buying more points - LOL!

We're going in May and I just priced what it would cost us to stay at SSR if we didn't own and it was $3000, multiple that by a couple times a year and it's definitely worth it for our family!

Good luck to you!

 

[tgj]

I agree with many of the others -- it works for us, and we're happy. It doesn't "save" your family money in that your bank account will increase, but it does help you "spend" less and have a better, higher quality vacation.

One advantage that I didn't think of until SEC mentioned it: no more hunting around for days/weeks looking for deals. I used to spend SO MUCH time searching out good rates, waiting for some promo that may or may not have fit in our schedules, etc etc etc.... With DVC, that's not the case any more.

 

[DVCconvert]

Is the Disney Vacation Club worth it?

100,000+ people seem to think it is!

 

[LarryKeith]

We have yet stayed so long that we wanted to go home. Always wanting to just add 1 more day. And we have gone alot. With 200 pts, borrowing and banking some we wanted to take full advantage of the APs we had bought on the DVC discount. So with good planning we managed to stay at disney BCV for 29 nights in a 365 day period last year. I will say it is great to know that your disney Vacation isn't over at the end of your stay. Just postponed till you return, which you start planning on the way home. Not when theres some discount in the off season.
Also we wish we had purchased sooner, but home is BCV and its our Favorite. So its all good. We just added with AKV, so thats means we have thought its a good deal enough to buy more.
I first bought site unscene, never saw a DVC room. WE KNEW the first vacation when we walked into the room that it was the best thing we had ever done. Theres no guessing about your accomadations when dealing with disney. Also if you feel you have made a mistake you can sell it, or rent it. you might be out some if you did but it isn't your normal worth 10 cents on the dollar timeshare. I bought BCV at $73pp and can sellit for over $80pp right now, but that part will change someday. So its a good time to take a chance,live a little and pay yourself first with a quality vacation for the next 50 years. You could buy a smaller amount in aftermarket and go every other or every third year with banking and borrowing.

 

[jco_direwolf]

Like the earlier people you have to do some math. You're getting better class of resort/room, and you'll get some discounts on APs and with that you can get the DDE. I suspect that in the next 50 years, just by locking in your rate ($104/pt right now) that will look like a execlent rate.

15 years ago OKW was selling for less than $60/pt. (so for next week it costs 109 pts) or about $130 (1/50th of 109pts) + $280 (MF for 109pts) Or about $420 total. The cash cost today for that reservation you'll be paying about $2150.

Now if you like the value resorts, you just want a place to put your stuff, take a shower and sleep (a base of operations for your commando raids on the park.) It's about $700 for that reservation.

When you talk about adding in financing the purchase and/or the future value of money (pay as you go and putting the cost of the purchase into compounding investment.) YMMV...

johno

 

[BroganMc]

We're looking into the DVC, and just trying to decide if it's worth the money. We usually go twice a year on average, staying in a value resort, but next year I'll have to move up to a bigger room-we have 3 kids and the youngest is turning 3. Can anyone share your likes/dislikes about DVC?

DVC is a different world as far as bookings are concerned. You deal with a different reservation system and its quirks (the 11 vs. 7 mos home resort booking windows). Factoring in the point system and you can enjoy the complications of the system. But it's not really that complicated, just different.

If you visit Disney frequently (twice a year as you do) or plan long trips in the Deluxe resorts, it makes sense. You end up with either bigger hotel rooms with kitchenettes (studios), apartments (1-2 bedrooms with kitchen and laundry) or larger family villas (3 bedrooms and 1-2 stories depending on the resort).

The best way to go about it is to take a tour (you can currently see rooms at Saratoga Springs, Animal Kingdom Villas and Boardwalk Villas), sit down with the point charts and figure out how your family would like to travel in future.

Some folks go for more short stays and go for studios, others want the laundry so do a 1 bedroom, and those with 5-8 in the group plan on 2-bedroom stays. I travel mostly with one other adult and sometimes invite a third, but I want that laundry and the ability to splurge on taking my sister's family every other year. So I have enough points to do a mixture of studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom stays in a year.

 

[byoung]

I think it is well worth it.

 

[3DisneyKids]

We're looking into the DVC, and just trying to decide if it's worth the money. We usually go twice a year on average, staying in a value resort, but next year I'll have to move up to a bigger room-we have 3 kids and the youngest is turning 3. Can anyone share your likes/dislikes about DVC?

Without reading anything but this about your family....2 times per year and 3 kids....YES....DVC is for you! You will NEVER regret it!

FYI...you won't find many negative comments here....we are all pretty much DVC fanatics!

 

[wildernessDad]

We're looking into the DVC, and just trying to decide if it's worth the money. We usually go twice a year on average, staying in a value resort, but next year I'll have to move up to a bigger room-we have 3 kids and the youngest is turning 3. Can anyone share your likes/dislikes about DVC?

You go twice a year...

Definitely worth it. It pays for itself in about 7 vacations or so.