Is it a good deal to buy directly from Disney anymore?

[Plex]

SO when I was first buying into DVC several years ago, I did a pretty in-depth financial analysis to figure out if it was a good value. I discovered that prices buying directly from Disney were were so high that it was not much of a discount at all over the life of the membership when compared to deluxe accommodations.

Considering that since that time the price per point has gone up 40% or more, is buying DVC direct from Disney a prudent financial decision if you're planning on getting a Studio most of the time? Especially considering what their interest rates are like?

I haven't looked at the financial side in a while, so I'm curious what it looks like these days.

[Basket Mommy]

We bought all 350 of our points through resale (3 different contracts). We started with 150 (because that's all we could afford to pay cash for - no financing for us) and gradually added on as we had extra $$ to buy more points. All 3 of our contracts were purchased before Disney put limits on how you can use your points if you buy them through resale (not that we use them anywhere but Disney properties. We have cruised, but prefer to pay cash for those because we like using our points at HHI or WDW.)

I have never seen the value in buying directly from Disney. Even the "perks" they offer don't make paying full price worth it. If you want to use your points to cruise or on Adventures trips, then you have to buy from Disney (but those things are a poor use of points, IMO - you have to buy so many to get what you want!)

I don't even know what Disney is selling points for nowadays. I'm assuming it's close to $150? I think with resale, buying Vero or HHI is about $50 - $55 per point. We own all of our points at HHI, travel value or choice season only, and rarely have a hard time booking where we want to stay at 7 months out. I did just look into going to WDW in October, and the only 2 BRs available are at SSR (I wanted a 3BR at OKW, but all of our dates aren't available). SSR is fine. We've stayed at almost every DVC property at WDW, and they're all fine by me. If we don't get our first choice, something else is *always* available, and no matter where we stay, we are STILL at Disney!

[Reedy Creek Buccaneer]

Timeshares are such a rip-off. I can't believe people are still buying these at Disney.

[faline]

Timeshares are such a rip-off. I can't believe people are still buying these at Disney.

You are cetainly entitled to your opinion. We bought into DVC about 3 years ago. We thought long and hard about this before we made the decision to do it. We did not finance but made our purchase outright and we did not buy directly from Disney which made it much more cost-efficient. We are happy with our purchase and do not feel we've been ripped off in any way.

[Basket Mommy]

Timeshares are such a rip-off. I can't believe people are still buying these at Disney.

We assumed the same, which is why we waited 12 years to look into DVC. My husband's sister owns a timeshare, and we just weren't the least bit interested in owning one. Then we actually looked into DVC and it made financial sense for us. For $10K we paid for 45 years' worth of accommodations. For a party of 6, that's not bad, considering the cost of either booking a villa as non-DVC or having to book 2 deluxe rooms for all of us. Yes, we have fees every year, but we factored that in as well. We might take a loss when we eventually sell, but we will have gotten our money out of it and then some. To each his or her own. We weighed our decision carefully. We're very particular about how we spend our money. We spent cash, too, so we didn't pay interest since we didn't finance.

[TheHD]

Like the previous posters have said (except for the rip off person), I don't see any value in purchasing directly from Disney. We recently purchased resale after crunching the numbers for the past year. I don't have the specifics, but basically around our fifth-sixth trip via DVC would equal what we would have spent without DVC. Plus, we'll have 30+ more years of WDW accommodations at just the maintenance fee prices.

Purchasing through Disney directly would take approximately three times as long for the money to equal out. Plus the incentives that Disney includes with buying directly from them didn't entice me one bit. Adventures or cruises are waaaaay overpriced in terms of points cost. The trips themselves are close to the cost of going to WDW, but almost three times the points. It doesn't make sense. Besides, we knew when buying DVC that we wanted to use it within WDW anyways.

[tjstrike]

We bought our 1st 150 points thru Disney because I bought in under my sister who was already a DVC member. We paid $85 a point for SSR. Since then with the points going sky high we only buy resale.

[DVC2004]

Timeshares are such a rip-off. I can't believe people are still buying these at Disney.

I respectfully disagree. In 9 years we have used ours for an average of 2 trips per year to Disney, have used it for 1 week in a 2 BR villa at Atlantis (cash rental cost equivalent of $11,500 per the Atlantis website booking same room in cash), and going on our second DVC trip to Hawaii in July. For my $13,000 purchase 9 years ago we've taken probably close to $45,000 worth of vacations. Going off of room prices and the quality of deluxe accomodations which we prefer to stay at. I guess if you travel once every 3 years or more it isn't the best choice. For us, it's paid for itself over and over.

Back to the original post- I think most people these days find the best deals through resale. we did buy ours through Disney when we bough but at that time we bought the brand new resort (wasn't on reslae yet) with a full 50 year contract. I think we actually got 54 years or something. But nowadays resale seems to make the most sense.

[JMTStone]

We bought our first points directly from Disney and our second points through The Timeshare Store (INTERCOT sponsors).

The transaction itself was much easier through The Timeshare Store and the way we can use these points are the same. Although there has been a change, I would gladly use The Timeshare Store again if we found some money BECAUSE:

We use our points for staying at Disney. We've stayed at almost every DVC resort (still waiting to try out Wilderness Lodge and Disneyland). We have ended up saving money. We like the Villas. Especially one bedroom for the 4 of us. Our vacation time is spent at Disney. We banked when Jon lost his job. We've used points on DCL as well. But when you're talking about DCL, we ended up finding out we were better off using Magical Journeys.

We go once or twice a year. It never is around the same time so we cannot be limited to a special date. This year its July and another short trip in January (#runICOT). Some day, when DD 20 wants to marry, she'll probably use our points for her honeymoon (she's already decided that her future husband must be a Disney fan).

Now I wouldn't recommend taking out a loan for such and expense but I am a fan. The additional member perks don't sell the package. There are discounts on AP, etc. But the benefits of having the points is this for us: No matter how large (taking family with us in a 3 bedroom) or small (just me and Jon in a studio), the points work for us.

[Pooh Fan]

My approach to DVC may be a bit different than most. I would generally stay at a Value if I had to pay out of pocket and I'm not a several times per year or even an every year visitor but I figured when I bought in that I could stay in a DVC studio for the same or less than a value. I have definitely achieved this even when factoring in 4 nights in a 2 bedroom unit at AKV this Sep. My buy in (secondary market) in 2007 was 50 SSR points for $88/point = $4400 + closing $322 = $4722. I will own for 47 years so this is $100/year. My maintenance fees have ranged from $206-$235/year. A total of $1556 since buying in. So when I add my 7 years of Maint. fees ($1556) plus purchase cost for the 7 years I have owned ($700). My total costs for the past 7 years is $2256. In these 7 years I have stayed or rented out to friends a total of 32 nights. 21 at DVC studios, 5 in a Club Intrawest studio, 2 at DL's Paradise Pier and 4 in a 2 bedroom at AKV this Sep. That works out to $70.50/night! Even if I include my entire purchase price of $4722 the total is $196/night. That's definitely less than one night in a DVC studio. My 4 nights at AKV this Sep would cost over $700 per night!
So that is my long, drawn out answer to is it still worth buying. I would say yes but still highly recommend the secondary market. And this is also my response to the "Timeshares are a rip off" comment! :mickey:

[Maleficent's Dad]

Pooh Fan definitely has a point... IF you're willing to stay at a value resort.

If you want a deluxe resort, or like to stay in larger accommodations, DVC pays (or at at least it used to) for itself quickly. Staying in a 1-2 BR with a kitchen and all the amenities (washer/dryer for example) cannot compare to a standard room at Pop or All Stars. People willing to finance thru Disney may pay a lot more than the original price! It is a mortgage...

I agree the points these days are very expensive, but we bought our initial points direct, and have added through resale (prior to the new rules). We have already come out ahead - even with annual fees - and we still have 40 years or more to go. We didn't pay the 11-19% interest rate on these mortgages, mind you.

DVC is not for everyone! Just do your homework before buying....
To the OP, I'm sending you a good link re this very topic.

[BrerGnat]

I have never been able to justify purchasing DVC and I've seriously considered it a lot of times over the past 10 years or so.

For me, it's the maintenance fees for the life of a 40+ year contract that are the killer. The fact that they can change them whenever they want, and raise them as much as they want makes the whole thing a gamble, IMO. For our needs, we'd need at least a 150-200 point contract, realistically. That's close to $1000/year in just maintenance fees, plus the buy in which would run $15-20K (based on the old average of $100/point). So, realistically, it's at LEAST a $60-80K+ investment, taking into account maintenance fee increases. And, that's JUST accommodations.

I can't pull that kind of trigger knowing that the advertised "up to 40% savings compared to rack rate" is a moot point, since we've managed to get 40% room only discounts for the past 13 years. The Disney math doesn't work in our favor. I'd say in the past 10 years, we've spent maybe $10-15K on Disney ACCOMMODATIONS. If we keep that up for the next 40 years, we will still come out ahead of a DVC contract. And, most of the time, we stay Deluxe.

We are booked at WL for 8 nights for a grand total of $1700 for the hotel this August. The MOST we paid was over spring break at the BC, Club Level, and that was only $2600 for 7 nights, room only.

And, if we want, we can get a 40% discount on the villas too, so what's the point of buying in? I don't see the benefit, personally.

DVC will work differently for every family. Only you can determine if it would work for yours.

[Hammer]

I can't pull that kind of trigger knowing that the advertised "up to 40% savings compared to rack rate" is a moot point, since we've managed to get 40% room only discounts for the past 13 years. The Disney math doesn't work in our favor. I'd say in the past 10 years, we've spent maybe $10-15K on Disney ACCOMMODATIONS. If we keep that up for the next 40 years, we will still come out ahead of a DVC contract. And, most of the time, we stay Deluxe.

We are booked at WL for 8 nights for a grand total of $1700 for the hotel this August. The MOST we paid was over spring break at the BC, Club Level, and that was only $2600 for 7 nights, room only.

And, if we want, we can get a 40% discount on the villas too, so what's the point of buying in? I don't see the benefit, personally.

DVC will work differently for every family. Only you can determine if it would work for yours.

Natalie, you have the opportunity to take advantage of military discounts, which many do not have the opportunity to use. So, while you were able to get a 40% discount for WL this summer, the discount offered to the general public at Wilderness Lodge was 5% (according to the Magical Journeys sticky).

I bought both of my contracts through the Timeshare Store (Intercot Sponsor) and I am so glad I used them versus paying Disney prices. Even with the recent increase in price per point by Disney, You are still able to purchase (getting through ROFR) at around $72-75 a point at many places (BLT and VGC are exceptions). My maintenance dues are about $1200 a year for 250 points. No way I could get our 2 bedroom villa for that price for 5 nights.

I did not worry about the "buying where I want to stay" argument as neither my job nor my sister's job allows for us to book earlier than 7 months out (and that can be difficult). We like the size of the accommodations which is why we own. It allows us to have space which you do not get in a regular hotel room. As we like spending time around our resort, we have lots of room to just kick back and relax. We don't have to share TVs either :tv: !

Like you said, though, it really is a personal choice and does depend on how you like to vacation at Disney.

[Hammer]

Correction to my earlier post- Wilderness Lodge is listed as receiving a 30% discount for the summer promotion. There are other resorts, though, which are only getting a 5% discount. From Nanci's post in Accommodations-

5% off - All-Star Movies, Animal Kingdom Lodge (Savannah view and Club Level), Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Contemporary (theme park view & Club Level), Port Orleans-French Quarter

15% off - Art of Animation (family suites)

20% off – All-Star Music, All-Star Sports, Contemporary (standard rooms), Grand Floridian, Pop Century, Polynesian

25% off - Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans-Riverside

30% off – Animal Kingdom Lodge (standard rooms) Beach Club, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn, BoardWalk Villas, Old Key West, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club

[BrerGnat]

Yes, the military discounts are definitely a really great perk that I am extremely grateful for.

However, for every time I've planned a trip to WDW, there have ALSO always been general public room only discounts. Since we always stay Deluxe now, those 30% discounts are still very, very good!

I don't forsee a time when Disney STOPS offering discounts. If they do, though, THEN maybe we will revisit the DVC option.

[Basket Mommy]

There are discounts, but with a family of 6 and no rooms on property that will hold us all (minus suites and villas) that means getting 2 rooms. We like deluxe accommodations. Deluxe rates, even discounted, would be more than we've paid for our points after paying for 2 rooms for a week. Plus, DVC properties (1, 2 & 3 BR) have the kitchens and laundry in room. I can pack lighter and wash a load every night. I know not everyone likes doing laundry on vacation, but it's not a hassle if you're just wearing what you take out of the dryer.

[Middle of the Map]

This is an interesting discussion.

It appears that when someone buys points for less than what Disney is selling them for, there is someone who may be selling their points at a loss.

I wonder how many folks have had to take a loss on their timeshare investment?

[VWL Mom]

This is an interesting discussion.

It appears that when someone buys points for less than what Disney is selling them for, there is someone who may be selling their points at a loss.

I wonder how many folks have had to take a loss on their timeshare investment?

Many times those points that are being sold at deep discounts are from people that have had their points for a long time and just have decided they don't need all of them (or some of them). Sometimes they just want to cash in. Keep in mind, the Disney direct price now compared to 10 years ago is a big difference.

We've owned for 7 years. We bought 2/3 of our points direct and 1/3 resale. We try to get down at least 2 times a year in either a 1 or 2 bedroom depending on how many of us are going. The important thing to note is we would have done this using the same accommodations even if we weren't members. So when I take our total purchase plus dues less the cost of the vacations we are close to the break even point. If we were to sell at a discounted price, we'd make a profit.

I think there some that buy without researching or buy and finance that do run into problems. There are a lot of AKV and BLT points out there cheap as a result of foreclosure which is sad.

[1DisneyNut]

I have never been able to justify purchasing DVC and I've seriously considered it a lot of times over the past 10 years or so.

For me, it's the maintenance fees for the life of a 40+ year contract that are the killer. The fact that they can change them whenever they want, and raise them as much as they want makes the whole thing a gamble, IMO. For our needs, we'd need at least a 150-200 point contract, realistically. That's close to $1000/year in just maintenance fees, plus the buy in which would run $15-20K (based on the old average of $100/point). So, realistically, it's at LEAST a $60-80K+ investment, taking into account maintenance fee increases. And, that's JUST accommodations.

I can't pull that kind of trigger knowing that the advertised "up to 40% savings compared to rack rate" is a moot point, since we've managed to get 40% room only discounts for the past 13 years. The Disney math doesn't work in our favor. I'd say in the past 10 years, we've spent maybe $10-15K on Disney ACCOMMODATIONS. If we keep that up for the next 40 years, we will still come out ahead of a DVC contract. And, most of the time, we stay Deluxe.

We are booked at WL for 8 nights for a grand total of $1700 for the hotel this August. The MOST we paid was over spring break at the BC, Club Level, and that was only $2600 for 7 nights, room only.

And, if we want, we can get a 40% discount on the villas too, so what's the point of buying in? I don't see the benefit, personally.

DVC will work differently for every family. Only you can determine if it would work for yours.

^^^This is exactly our perspective on DVC as well. We actually considered DVC for a few years. We took the tour while we were there in 2007. I did a lot of studying and calculations and extrapulated it out over the life of the contract. Over the last 6 years I have looked at it and we have consistently spent less than we would have if we owned DVC. We never go without getting a discount if we stay onsite and we have recently discovered in the last two years that we actually enjoy staying in deluxe offsite resorts which cost significantly less than onsite.

My main concerns were: 1) the fact that the maintenance fees and property taxes are not a fixed number which will and have increased over time and 2) Our vacation preferences, timing and lengths will change over time and 3) What if we decide we don't want to go to WDW for a while? We did skip a couple of years in 2009 and 2010. We really don't want to be locked into WDW and you have to buy direct to use them for other purposes. Also as has been pointed out, using them for other purposes is not economical anyway.

I find it amusing when people state that for their $12,000 or whatever, investment some number of years ago, they have taken $50,000 or whatever, worth of vacations. What about the maintenance and property taxes of $1200-$1500 per year (which is basically what I pay for accomodations every year) and why do you always calculate the comparison rental using rack rate rather than the discounts that are always available? Most people finance and usually leave out the financing charges they paid and just use the price it would have cost paying cash. When all accounted for, you have actually paid $27000 for approximately $27000 worth of vacations.

[DisneyFan1979]

I just bought into DVC in September direct through Disney. Disney's current promo was that they gave us points for 2013 even though we don't pay for the year and also a certain # of $ off per point. I did the math and decided it was the best option for me. I wanted to buy into the AKL and the resale options available did not have any points on them until 2015--so when you took into account that I was getting 2 more years worth of points than the comparable resale option, I decided it made financial sense.

Also, I was not comfortable with the current limitations that Disney is putting on owners who buy through resale and the possibility of additional future restrictions.

That's just my view. If you're considering buying DVC, personally I feel it's a good idea to schedule an appointment with Disney too and hear their pitch directly before making the decision to buy resale.

There are so many possible factors to consider, you really need to think carefully about the hotels you want to stay, how regularly you'll go, and what time of year you'll go. My family has been staying at deluxe resorts once a year or more since 2002--many times at rack rate--we would have been going on vacations now for just the price of my yearly dues had we bought in then.

[VWL Mom]

I find it amusing when people state that for their $12,000 or whatever, investment some number of years ago, they have taken $50,000 or whatever, worth of vacations. What about the maintenance and property taxes of $1200-$1500 per year (which is basically what I pay for accomodations every year) and why do you always calculate the comparison rental using rack rate rather than the discounts that are always available? Most people finance and usually leave out the financing charges they paid and just use the price it would have cost paying cash. When all accounted for, you have actually paid $27000 for approximately $27000 worth of vacations.

I respectfully disagree with your generalized accounting here. IMO you're not comparing apples to apples.

During the time of year we travel the 2 bedroom room rate is $900 avg, discounted (if available) normally runs between $650 - 700. We usually get 12 nights from our points so using the lowest rate of $650 adding tax of 12.5% that comes to $8775 per year. Even after adding in my dues our break even point is our next trip (we had projected 7 years) and the next 30 years are dues only. This isn't taking into account the ticket savings per year as members which is roughly been $300 per person or $1200.

DVC isn't for everyone. For us it was based on what we like. We love the Jr Suites at WL but as my boys grew up we outgrew that room.

This year the oldest is graduating college and the youngest is starting so I know it is going to be harder to get us to travel together that much. The plan is to rent out 1/3 of our points and use that money for our dues. That will leave enough for DH and I to take 2 weeks per year in a one bedroom free of charge.

[BugeyedMuggy]

We just bought earlier 2013 from Timeshare Store a used BWV for 150 pts. We have been going back and forth on it's worth for years. Buying new for us was not worth it at our age . Although paying in cash for the DVC for 2 weeks in a studio will pay for it self in 6 years. We rent points and for one trip the cost is $1,300.00 per trip. At 6 years 2 trips would cost $15,600. Our DVC was 12,000. Even with dues at 850.00 after 6 years we will make out. Plus the fact we like to stay at Deluxe resorts and we can have 4 adults in a studio with no extra cost. We enjoy BWV for F&wf and now will have no problem getting a standard view studio at 11 months out. Love love love or decision. Good luck in yours.

[garthbarth1]

I just bought into DVC in September direct through Disney. Disney's current promo was that they gave us points for 2013 even though we don't pay for the year and also a certain # of $ off per point. I did the math and decided it was the best option for me. I wanted to buy into the AKL and the resale options available did not have any points on them until 2015--so when you took into account that I was getting 2 more years worth of points than the comparable resale option, I decided it made financial sense.

Also, I was not comfortable with the current limitations that Disney is putting on owners who buy through resale and the possibility of additional future restrictions.

That's just my view. If you're considering buying DVC, personally I feel it's a good idea to schedule an appointment with Disney too and hear their pitch directly before making the decision to buy resale.

There are so many possible factors to consider, you really need to think carefully about the hotels you want to stay, how regularly you'll go, and what time of year you'll go. My family has been staying at deluxe resorts once a year or more since 2002--many times at rack rate--we would have been going on vacations now for just the price of my yearly dues had we bought in then.

Thanks for this info! We are seriously considering buying DVC with the GF being our home resort. We were also looking into the resale market as many have suggested. Could you explain a little more about the limitations/restrictions Disney is putting on members for those who buy through resale?? Also, someone mentioned in a previous post about "Year Use"-i do not remember hearing anything about that in the presentation?? Thanks for any info :)

[faline]

Thanks for this info! We are seriously considering buying DVC with the GF being our home resort. We were also looking into the resale market as many have suggested. Could you explain a little more about the limitations/restrictions Disney is putting on members for those who buy through resale?? Also, someone mentioned in a previous post about "Year Use"-i do not remember hearing anything about that in the presentation?? Thanks for any info :)

The restrictions mean that, essentially, you can only use your points to stay in Disney DVC units. You would not be able to "exchange" points to stay in places outside of Disney DVC, or in regular hotel rooms. Thus far, we have not used our points for anything other than Disney DVC units.

Use year is the month in which you get your points. For example, I have a June use year. That means, I get my annual allotment of points each year on June 1st. If I have any points left for that year, I have to bank them by January 31st. Use year is an important consideration if you have more than one points contract and if you vacation at a particular time each and every year.

[DisneyFan1979]

To perhaps help answer GarthBarth's question: Disney divides the various resort offerings in DVC into different collections. To put them in descriptive terms they are: DVC resorts, Disney resorts that aren't DVC, Adventures by Disney guided tours, and nonDVC/nonDisney resorts in locations throughout the world which are subdivided into special luxury ones and regular ones. Currently, if you buy DVC on resale you cannot book at Disney nonDVC resorts, Adventures by Disney, and those designated special luxury resorts. Personally: I don't know how my vacation needs may change 10-20 years down the road so I wanted the option to use my points in as many ways as possible.

Additionally, my understanding is that if Disney wants to going forward they could designate new DVC resorts as "premium" or the like and restrict access. I did not want to take that chance with the Polynesian DVC coming down the pipeline.

All in all, personally, I felt more confident and comfortable buying through Disney. Disney wants to protect the brand-image and you never know what legal magic they might work in the future.

[garthbarth1]

Thank you both for the information! It definitely is a big decision to join or not to join! We currently have a membership though RCI and can use it pretty much internationally. Right now we have weeks, not points. We would love to use it on a Disney Vacation, but you really have to book so far out in advance (like 18 months) and with our work schedules we are really not able to do that. Also, we can stay for 5 nights at the most, and RCI requires you book for a week.(you don't have to stay for a week, but I hate paying for one knowing we aren't staying the full time) With DVC we can book by the night, and we really like the flexibility. Our RCI is paid for and our maintenance dues are only $375 a year, and we are Gold Crown Members. This being said, we can already stay at many, or more, of the same places that are offered though DVC that are not WDW resorts. The main reason we would join DVC is bc we like to go to Disney every year and stay at a Deluxe resort. We still need to do the math, but it seems like it may be a good fit for us. Im really hoping the Poly comes through in 2015 as it was our favorite place to stay! We are tempted to wait until it becomes available but Im sure the price per point will be so much higher then (right now its $150/point) I agree on feeling more secure buying though Disney-even though it may not be as financially lucrative it seems like a safer option...for whatever reason (psychologically that is!).:mickey:
Reading through all the threads it really is a huge decision..so many people are for it! Knowing how many years we have gone, even with discounts, I feel like we would have paid for it by now...:mickey: