Deciding whether you should join the Disney Vacation Club requires a lot of thought. You must determine how often you’ll visit the park, how much you plan to spend on lodgings when you do, and how confined you will feel by staying at a finite number of resorts each time. I have presented the pros and cons of membership in previous articles, and I’ve also listed additional considerations about whether DVC is right for you.
In the wake of these articles, you have posed several great questions that didn’t quite fit into any of the discussion above. Theme Park Tourist always loves reading your comments, and I’ve collated many of them over the past year in anticipation of this article. So, I want to take this opportunity to respond to a few of your ideas, concerns, and suggestions for DVC in hopes of shedding additional light on the subject. Here are a dozen responses to some of my favorite posts.
The Three Wise Men all worry about the initial amount of Myrrh required :
“I love when owners say it only cost them the price of their yearly dues. Oh, and the $25,000 initial purchase price.
“If it wasn’t for that initial 25k (the price of a new car btw) I would join in a heartbeat.”
“It’s not an investment but a vacation you buy in advance.”
Image: Disney
Gentlemen, I fully understand your issues with that sort of upfront fee. The cost for direct purchase of DVC membership has increased further since you all offered your thoughts. I presume this news makes you even less inclined to consider purchase, and that’s completely understandable.
First of all, the $25,000 purchase price is a bit of exaggeration. Yes, you CAN spend that much but only if you choose to do so. New members can buy directly through Disney for as little as $11,000 for 100 points, and a current promotion at Old Key West and Saratoga Springs is also enticing for new customers who don’t require as many points. Currently, you can buy as few as 25 points at those resorts, which lowers the purchase price to as little as $3,375, effectively the price of one good vacation.
If the combination of dollars per point remains too high in your estimation, I would note that resale membership negates many of these issues. Even with the recent rise in average points cost at the various resale sites, you can still find a 100-point membership for as little as $7,500, which is only $75 a point.
For that money that you can finance to pay over time, you receive a week’s vacation at a Disney resort at the most popular amusement park in the world. I hope that you don’t allow your perception of a significant entry price prevent you from exploring your DVC memberships options if you truly are interested.
Along these lines, Cash Strapped ponders:
“How much do you have to put down to start?”
Image: Disney
As you can infer from the above, the down payment is entirely up to you. Disney requires 10 percent of the purchase price on most transactions and then angles to finance the rest. They make more money that way. If you buy 100 points directly through Disney for most DVC resorts right now, you’re looking at somewhere between $1,350 and $1,700.
If you purchase via resale instead, a service such as Prosper or Lending Club would require no immediate down payment. Instead, you would start making monthly payments once you’ve acquired the loan. If you believe that cash is king, the amount of initial payment is the sum total of the number of points you desire. You can calculate this information on your end by looking at current DVC pricing and promotions.
Disney Wife loves her man for his spreadsheets:
“We have gone back and forth and back and forth on this subject. My husband says when he crunches the numbers, it would be cheaper just to save the money you would be paying out and book your own trip. Are there any other “teasers” that are offered that I might could sway him with? We have been and listened through the presentation. We go to Disney once a year at least.”
Image: Disney
I think that you and your husband are doing the right thing by putting a great deal of thought into your decision. I know that some people make impulse purchases during their first sales pitch and then experience buyer’s remorse over time. Yes, there are a lot more happy DVC members than unhappy ones, but this is not a choice that you should rush.
My suggestion is a bit different. Rather than providing you a list of the best DVC membership incentives, the subject of a future article, I’ll offer a different solution instead. Why don’t you and your husband rent DVC points for your next annual trip? You should expect to pay about $12-$14 per point, so calculate the number of points you’ll need by looking at a DVC Points Chart. There are several reputable rental point services, and you can also frequent various Disney boards to find current members willing to rent their points for a fee.
While on your trip, you can enjoy many of the benefits of DVC membership such as booking the Disney Dining Plan. In this manner, your next vacation will operate as a trial run for DVC. If you have a great time, you and your husband will probably join. If you don’t, you’ll have dodged a bullet. Either way, the cost of renting points is roughly the same cost as staying in a moderate resort while paying cash. So, you get an upgraded resort experience for the same money.
Timeshare Monopolist has a cunning plan:
“Hi! Could you explain the strategy/benefit of having investment in multiple properties?”
Image: Disney
The answer to this is a bit specific in that it applies primarily to people who visit Disney multiple times each year. Presuming that you’re one of them, what you need to know is simple. Some DVC rooms book extremely early. The logical situations where sellouts occur are holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Week and popular site-specific booking scenarios such as Beach Club Villas during the Food and Wine Festival, but there are other instances as well.
As an example, Animal Kingdom Villas offers a handful of studio rooms on the concierge floor of Jambo House. These are so exclusive that even Kidani doesn’t offer them. Since demand outstrips supply by several exponents, the only realistic way to book one is to own DVC membership at Animal Kingdom Villas. You claim an 11-month booking window at your home property, which provides a competitive advantage over the seven-month window that all DVC members have at all resorts.
Answering the question directly, the strategy/benefit is that if you plan to visit during Food and Wine Festival, you should own at Beach Club Villas or Boardwalk Villas. That way, you are only a few hundred steps away from Epcot during the event. If you love Magic Kingdom at Christmas, you should own at one of the monorail resorts, the best one of which is Bay Lake Tower if you want to stay as close as possible. And if you love the concierge studio at Animal Kingdom, you’ll want to own there as well. This strategy is only for diehard Disney visitors. Even I find it a bit over the top.
In between finding new babysitters, the Brady Bunch asks:
“How many points would I need for a family of 7?”
Most studios at DVC resorts can hold five people while some are only designed for parties of four. None of the one-bedroom villas is designed for families of seven, either. You’ll want to purchase enough points to stay at a two-bedroom villa whenever you visit. If you plan to stay a week each visit, you’ll probably want at least 250 points, and I would suggest 315. That’s the current cost to ensure that you can stay at Beach Club Villas, Saratoga Springs, or Old Key West. If you prefer Grand Floridian or Bay Lake Tower, you should probably get 400 just to be safe. Alternately, plan to get two rooms every visit if you want to save yourself the cost of additional points.
Easy to Please wonders:
“Is this worth it for a family of 3 for 2 trips a year if we don’t care what kind of room we stay in?”
If you don’t care about the quality of the room/hotel, the answer is definitely no. While there are divided opinions about Disney’s All-Star Resorts as well as non-Disney properties, I cannot in good conscience recommend that you pay extra for a DVC resort. For two visits, you’d probably need 150-200 points, and that money would pay for a lot of nights at lesser hotels.
Glass Half-Full worries that they’re missing something:
“Are there any downsides to buying resale?”
In 2011, Disney slightly altered the rules for resale purchase. People who purchase membership on the secondary market are unable to use their DVC points on cruises or RCI exchanges. As I’ve mentioned before, you shouldn’t use your points for cruises anyway. The points cost is so outrageous that you’re better served renting your points then using the money earned from the transaction to pay for your cruise. You’ll probably wind up with spending money to boot. As for RCI exchanges, I couldn’t care less about this membership incentive, but you might. I would suggest that you perform your own research to determine whether it’s something you’ll actually use rather than something you’ll obsess about if you don’t have the option.
Sold Out fears the worst:
“Any times when you tried to book with points and couldn’t?”
Yes, of course. The timeframes I mentioned above are going to sell out by the time the holidays roll around. There are also other calendar dates where Disney’s resorts are unexpectedly popular. Their annual marathons are great examples, as is MLB Spring Training. When sellouts occur, DVC has a system in place where you add your potential reservation to a waitlist. I’ve gotten my waitlist request every time thus far, which I’m told makes me fairly lucky. Based on my experience, as long as you plan well and understand the system, you’ll get to stay at the DVC resort you prefer, most of the time. When you don’t, consider the situation a great opportunity to fall in love with some place new.
Elitist has self-esteem issues:
“How does your resale work? Disney doesn’t see you as “true” owners? If that’s the case, how does that affect your trading ability?”
First of all, Disney considers all DVC members true owners. I am entitled to all the discounts and membership perks as my brother who purchased direct. Part of the reason for this is real estate law, and the other part is good business. Eventually, I’ll want to buy more points, and Disney would prefer that I do that through them. In order to enhance the possibility, they aren’t going to treat me like a second class citizen.
Other than the negligible contractual limitations above, the only other issue resale owners have is that their official DVC sales person may not contact them a lot. People who have bought directly through their sales agents occasionally (but not always) receive gifts upon check-in at the resort when they vacation at Disney. That’s about the extent of the divide between direct purchase and resale owners.
Not in Any Way Affiliated with Marriott comments:
“You also have to give it back after 50 years. My family owns a couple of Marriott timeshares and those are deeded to you forever, which is a huge plus.”
Sure, but the huge negative is that you own at Marriott. That’s a true timeshare that has a stigma caused by the financial turmoil of 2007-2010. As late as 2014, a person could buy a full timeshare at Marriott for a dollar on eBay. You get what you pay for, and the market dictates that Marriott memberships are not worth anywhere near as much as DVC.
All about the Benjamins notes:
“I (cannot) imagine why anyone would pay that much – you could stay in a lot of nice hotels for those point and maintenance fees.”
Yes, you can, as I noted above about Disney’s All-Star Resorts. The catch is that you cannot stay in THESE nice hotels for the cost of these points and maintenance fees. If I want to spend a week at Old Key West – and I pretty much always do – the out-of-pocket expense is about $2,350 each visit. For $7,500, I can purchase DVC membership with 100 points at Old Key West, which entitles me to a week’s stay during the season I’m most likely to visit. So, I’ve earned back my money after approximately four visits, five if we factor in maintenance fees. Every additional visit after that is effectively free. I fully respect the logic of anyone who looks at the data and decides otherwise, but I like the way the money works out for my family. Also, I KNOW I can stay in nice hotels as a member of DVC.
GC Lover has a great idea:
“Can you pay dues with Disney Gift Cards? With there being ways to get gift cards at a discount it would a big savings if you could.”
You can and you should. I’m not talking about using dicey eBay sellers or anything of the ilk, but there is still a clever method to employ. Major retailers such as Target Wal-Mart occasionally offer discounts on gift cards as a loss leader for other merchandise. I’ve read of people who own Target Red Cards manipulating the system so much that they got 16 percent discounts on Disney Gift Cards. Yes, these are extreme couponers, but the premise is sound. We actually paid for a large portion of our DVC maintenance fees this year using gift cards we received during the holidays. To a larger point, this is a good way to stretch your budget at Disney. Buy gift cards in anticipation of your trip then use them to pay for your food and lodging once you’re on vacation.
Not a Vampire comes to grips with their own mortality by asking:
“If I pass away before the 50 years are up, can I will my DVC to my kids?”
First of all, I sincerely hope that cyborg technology advances to the point that you’re able to shoot missiles out of what once were your shoulders by 2064. Just in case you don’t become functionally immortal, however, I have great news. As long as you include your DVC interests in your trusts, you will automatically will them to your beneficiaries at the moment that your cyborg tech fails.
Finally, the Not-So-Silent Majority wonders:
“What type of idiot would think this sort of garbage is useful to anybody?”
Hi, mom!
