Trying to compare numbers

[Chadsgal]

Hello,

My DH has finally realized that even though he isn't a Disney nut he is married to one & he has a lifetime of Disney Vacations ahead of him. So he said I can look into DVC., we are considering VCG. So we go to DL about once a year. We would love to go to WDW but we never have because of the cost. We LOVE staying on property & this last trip we stayed off & really missed the magic.

Normally when we stay on property we get a AP rate & we stay at the DLH we have never stayed at GC again because of the cost. So does anyone have a good numbers comparison? I will research it all my self if I have to but I thought no harm in checking here to see if someone else has already done all the hard work for me.

Bottom line is DVC worth it? We would be looking at financing & my DH doesn't like the idea of the annual dues. I am looking for all reviews/opinions good & or bad. TIA

[DVC Mike]

DVC is great for those people that visit Disney on a regular basis, think that will continue, and typically stay onsite at the nicer Disney hotels.

We always stayed in the Deluxe resorts at WDW, so DVC made sense for us. We recently added on at VGC so we could have a great place to stay for our DLR trips.

DVC doesn't make sense for those folks that typically stay offsite or don't plan on continuing to visit Disney.

[Chadsgal]

Thanks Mike. We will continuing visiting on a regualr basis & that is why DH said to look into it. I know you can get a good discount on WDW AP's do they offer any discount for DL AP's? If we do this we are planing on trips to WDW too & maybe even the new Alsakan Cruise.

[GusMan]

One thing to note is that you should not make a decision to buy into DVC based on current discounts, perks, and offerings. While AP discounts are an example of a long-standing perk, all perks are subject to change.

[mom22gls]

Another factor is your hotel room needs and desires. Your picture indicates that you have at least one child. If you have three or more children, then your family probably currently exceeds (or will in the foreseeable future), the capacity of one hotel room. Even a one-bedroom villa (kids sleeping in the living room), gets you "more" than a hotel room-free washer and dryer in the unit, and full kitchen. It really adds to the quality of the stay, when you can easily accomodate different sleeping schedules, and you are not right on top of each other. In addition, you have the flexibility to bring guests. Next summer, we are planning a trip, which would include an additional kid (a relative). We would not fit into one hotel room, nor would we want to. I just reserved a two-bedroom unit, which is, bascially a condo. We'll have breakfast, and maybe some other meals, in our villa, to save money and time. Last year, I rented a two-bedroom unit, and we took my parents with us. All the DVC units are Deluxe-level, with full amenities, such as themed pools, table service restaurants, etc. We tended to stay in the Deluxe hotels, so it was a good fit for us.

[LLevy]

so- we usually spend about $2000. a year on hotel rooms,(2 each time) and then add in meals at disneyland over 8 or 9 days a year..(another $1000.)how does this compare to the cost of DVC for disneyland? because we do short trips, and drive, we don't really need laundry..

LL

Another factor is your hotel room needs and desires. Your picture indicates that you have at least one child. If you have three or more children, then your family probably currently exceeds (or will in the foreseeable future), the capacity of one hotel room. Even a one-bedroom villa (kids sleeping in the living room), gets you "more" than a hotel room-free washer and dryer in the unit, and full kitchen. It really adds to the quality of the stay, when you can easily accomodate different sleeping schedules, and you are not right on top of each other. In addition, you have the flexibility to bring guests. Next summer, we are planning a trip, which would include an additional kid (a relative). We would not fit into one hotel room, nor would we want to. I just reserved a two-bedroom unit, which is, bascially a condo. We'll have breakfast, and maybe some other meals, in our villa, to save money and time. Last year, I rented a two-bedroom unit, and we took my parents with us. All the DVC units are Deluxe-level, with full amenities, such as themed pools, table service restaurants, etc. We tended to stay in the Deluxe hotels, so it was a good fit for us.

[AVP]

Tony (my husband) wrote an article for MousePlanet about our decision to buy into DCA, and created a DVC Spreadsheet to help you compare costs. He'll admit it isn't the easiest thing in the world to use, but it really helps you decide if this is worth it for you.

Here's the article:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/7289/Buying_DVC

Here's the spreadsheet:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles/...t_Analysis.xls

For your scenario:

The Villas are currently selling for about $97-102/point (current promotional pricing) with a 160 point minimum. Depending on when you like to visit, 160 points is enough for a week in a Studio during the "Adventure" or "Choice" seasons, but you'll need 195 or 227 points for a studio during the "Magic" or "Premiere" seasons. If you prefer a one bedroom, you'll need a minimum of 238 points for one week per year in the "Adventure" season, and it climbs sharply from there. All of these points are for the Grand Californian, which is the most expensive of the DVC properties (at least until Hawaii opens!).

You asked about AP deals - right now, a 160-point purchase comes with two AP vouchers. (I'm not sure what level of pass).

Tony's spreadsheet is really designed for you to use while you're working with your salesperson, because things like interest rate and closing costs will impact the final numbers. (We actually took his laptop and the workheet into the sales meeting, and our sales rep thought it was great) If you need help using it, just post here and he'll be happy to help.

AVP

[Second Star]

You asked about AP deals - right now, a 160-point purchase comes with two AP vouchers. (I'm not sure what level of pass).

If its still the same as we got last year, it a Premium.

[mom22gls]

You can get more bang for your buck from a limited number of points, by banking and borrowing points. Last year, we had several stays, all in studios, and borrowed some points from this year to cover the stays. This year, we only had one, short trip, and we won't be going again this year, so I banked the remaining points from this year. I already have the reservation for the two-bedroom for next year, which will be 200 points, so I still have some points (we have 210 points), which will go to another, short trip, or will be banked. We,have reserved a one-bedroom, for Sunday-Thursday, then, for Friday and Saturday nights (which have a much higher point cost), move to a studio, at a hotel-based resort-the Beach Club is a favorite, for the pool.

To answer your question, it depends on the level of hotel room. The DVC villa, while their own catagory, are basically Deluxe, and some are on the same property as a Deluxe hotel, and you use all the same facilities. If you compare, say, a studio at the Beach Club Villas with a rack-rate stay at a regular hotel room, at the same resort, it's a bargain. Keep in mind that hotel rates also have added fees and taxes, so that is an additional savings. If you would, usually, stay at a Value resort, the savings are less, but, of course, you are getting a bigger room and more amenities. It is a difficult comparison, because, to some extent, it's often apples and oranges; the closest comparison is a studio to a Deluxe room. DVC membership also gets you other discounts, including a hefty discount on an AP, which comes with it's own discounts. It seems that we get discounts on most things, while we are there, including tours, kids' club babysitting services, and some shopping.

[GusMan]

The one thing that adds a little "complication" for lack of a better term is that most of your past vacations have been at DLR. So while mom22gls's example really shows the value that you can get out of a minimum amount of points, it's not exactly and apples to apples comparison when you are just talking about the GCV. The reasoning behind that is simple - it takes more points to the same length of stay than say SSR over at WDW.

I used Tony's spreadsheet to help determine my approx. cost of ownership and it got me in the ballpark for sure. Doing some searching with different points charts also helped me determine how many points I would typically need to vacation where, when, and for what type of room.

I agree that with a base number of points, you can get creative and take some great vacations. Even with 160 points, we can get two vacations a year at WDW, but in comparison with the number of points needed at GCV, I would need more points to do basically the same thing. (Same goes for if I wanted to stay at BLT as well...)

[mancub's mommy]

but don't know where to start. Any help would be appreciated!

We live in Northern CA and go once a year. We have annual passes and always stay at the Grand Californian.

We are booked thru AAA to stay at the Grand Californian the week after Thanksgiving. We were planning on going to a presentation while we were there.

I was on the online presentation on Wed night and they mentioned promotions that we could get that night. We chose not to seeing as it was the opening day of the Villas and we are hoping for the same pricing or better...did we make a mistake??

Should we talk to someone before we go? Should we buy before we go and use points for our November trip? I am clueless on the next step!

(Our APs will expire in November 2010 if that makes a difference....)

[GusMan]

Mancub's Mommy, I merged your post with one that is similar, even to the point where it is talking about the GCV. Take a peek above at some of the info and see if that helps start you off. Of course, if you have any additional questions, feel free to ask.

[mancub's mommy]

yes I had read this thread - but was interested more specifically in the Grand Californian vacation club....which is why I started a new thread.

Since it is so new - I was thinking the answers might be different somehow.

If anyone can help me specifically on the Grand Californian, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[mancub's mommy]

I guess my question is - what is the next step?

I understand the point system, I know the ballpark amount we will need to pay and we know we want to move forward with a purchase.

Do I contact someone over the phone? Do I wait until we go to Disneyland in November? Do I wait until our APs expire since that is a current promotion?

[GusMan]

Keep in mind that the DVC is not just for the Grand Californian. It appears that you are still wondering if you want to join DVC with the Villas at the GC most likely being your best choice as your home resort being that you are DLR regulars.

Being that you stay at the GC often, you have an idea as what it costs when you vacation. That gives you a real good apples to apples comparison as to how many points you might need for your typical vacation, and how much that will cost you as a DVC member. From there, you can compare what your typical out of pocket costs are for a similar stay, paying cash for the rooms.

As for your trip in November, being that the VGC are so new, I think availability might be limited, even if you buy today. (You can always check.) But at the same time, talking with a DVC guide (sales rep) before your trip would be a real good step in getting some idea if the DVC is right for you. Then if your interest is still there, a tour and a sitdown visit with a guide during your next trip might be a very good investment in your time. (And it is a very low pressure presentation.) At the same time, some of the discussions and tools listed in this thread can also help you determine some of the financials involved, which are also a strong contributing factor.

Out of curiosity, have you talked to a DVC guide yet?

[mancub's mommy]

Thanks that is helpful. We have not talked to anyone yet.......

[Second Star]

Thanks that is helpful. We have not talked to anyone yet.......

PM me and I'll get you in touch with my guide. I have been very impressed with the level of service he has provided.

[stan2u]

I was running some numbers on purchasing Disney Vacation Club points - see if this makes sense to you:
assumptions:
number of points purchased: 100
$/point: $80 (resale, Boardwalk Villas)
Total upfront cost: $8,000
Maintenance cost/point: $5 (current rate)
Total annual maintenance: $ 500

Calculations:
To figure the annual "cost" of a point, I took the annual cost of a loan for the life of the contract (32 years). Using a WEB site calculator, the cost of a $8,000 loan with a payment schedule of 32 years and a 5% interest rate (the most I could possibly get for my investment), I come up with payment of $41.8 or $502/year.

So for my 100 points I have (per year):
$502 purchase price
$500 maintenance
------
$1002, or $10.02/point

points required for Boardwalk studio, last week of Feb or first week of Mar, preferred view: 134
cost of week at Boardwalk: $1343

For my comparison I used (all on-site Disney) "Value": All Star Music; "Moderate": PO Riverside;Deluxe: Boardwalk Inn (hotel) and Boardwalk Villas (condo) for the last week of Feb (2010). I used the Disney WEB site booking service to get the prices.

ASM: $1023
Riv: $1766
BWI: $3757
BWV: $3583
DVC: $1343

So my conclusion is that unless I'm staying at the lowest cost Disney hotel it is less costly to go with the DVC. But what really jumps out is that if I want to stay at a premium location like Boardwalk there is a huge savings with DVC.

I should point out a couple of things about my calculations. I did not take into account annual price increases in maintenance fees. Why? Because the resort weekly rates will also go up - probably more. The other thing is that I used 5% as a cost of money, that being the best I could get if I had the $8,000 to start with. If I had to borrow the $8,000 I would have to recalculate that part and the costs would be higher.