Not trying to offend anyone... but this vacation club thing sounds like a scam to me.

[SteamboatWillie]

First of all you have to pay like $18,000 for it in the first place. Which sounds really expensive to me, but I can see how it would pay off if you went a ton. But now I just found out you have to pay $600 annual fees just to have it. Wow, THAT makes a difference. First of all you are paying all that money, but now you have to pay basically the difference in price between moderate and deluxe (the whole point of getting DVC is to stay in higher priced hotels...) every year; what is the point? Why not just pay the difference yourself?

Over the course of fifty years of annual fees you are paying close to $50,000 to be in DVC. It just baffles me. Plus, it seems like you get the short end of the stick for a lot of things like not being able to use free dining if you are using points (another thing that drags any remaining value down). I mean, it makes a BIG difference to not be able to get free dining when you are paying all this money. To me, it shows they don't care about the customer. They would never mention something like that when you are buying it, and once you have it you are locked in and they can have rules like not letting you get free dining. Can someone give me the justification for this rule? Its kind of like using two coupons at the same time I guess... but you are spending thousands of dollars to have DVC, why should it conflict with other promotions?

As an outsider, it seems like the appeal of DVC lies in people's passion for Disney rather than financial considerations. I know a couple people that have bought it, and they seem to think of Disney as just a magical company rather than a corporation whose primary motive is profit.

I would welcome anyone who can point out why DVC is actually worth the value, again I'm not trying to criticize anyone I just can't figure out why someone would buy this. Even if you broke even financially, you are now locked in to every vacation being at Disney or a Disney resort somewhere.

[Heatfan1444]

You raise some good points. Looking at it from a strictly financial point of view, it's a little like buying a house. You buy a $250,000 house and start figuring out when you "break even." Then you have to add in the taxes and insurance and realize you may never break even. Maybe after your 30 year mortgage is paid. But you have upkeep and your taxes and insurance never go away. So why buy a house? It's "smarter than renting an apartment, correct?" For most, sure. You build equity, have a tax deduction and pay the same payment today as you do in year 29 of the loan.

To my point. I own 220 points at VWL. We have owned it for five years after buying from a reseller. We have stayed 7 nights for each of the past five years in a 1 BD vacation home. Now, we could pay cash for the 1 BD which would run about $350 a night + tax. I haven't broke even yet - probably about 2-3 more stays and my initial payment is "even." Like you said I have dues each month (think property taxes and insurance). I also have around 38 years left on my contract. I may sell the contract at some point and make most of my payment back. For now we are content to keep vacationing at WDW. But, I don't have to always go to WDW as I can use my points all over the world at hotels and resorts instead. That's a key also. The other key is - I say a 1 BD home is around $350 per night now. What about in 10 years? 15 years? I'm sure it will be more. I still have my points to use and don't have to come up with more and more money to keep vacationing.

Yes, we love Disney and certainly know they are out to make a profit. Owning DVC has been a blessing in that I can take my family year after year to WDW knowing my largest expense - the room - is "paid for." Financially, it may not be the best investment ever, but then again neither are the cars in my garage of my house that will be paid off in a short 24 years! But it sure is more fun. And keep in mind, promotions like "free dining" are just that, "promotions" that were put in place in the past year to help sell hotel rooms in a down economy. No guarantee that will last, so you can't count on it. But, I can count on staying in some great hotel rooms at WDW for many years to come.

[doconeill]

To get Free Dining, you must be paying "rack" (i.e. full) rate for a package that includes room and tickets. That's how the "discount" works. If you want a room at 30-40% off, you can get it - but you can't get free dining as well. It's either-or. Depending on how much you eat, it may work better or worse than a typical room discount.

DVC owners have already paid for the room. It is far cheaper to use points and pay for the dining plan that it is to get a full-priced room and get free dining. Especially since a DVC owner isn't required to get tickets they probably don't need either if they already have an AP. Have an AP but want free dining? So sorry, you've got to pay the extra $79 for at least a 1-day ticket. Sure, you can save it for later, but you've committed that money to Disney instead of your bank account.

But as you say, it all depends on how often you go and what accommodations you like. For some it is a GREAT value. For others not so much. Other timeshare systems are similar with similar costs.

And don't make the mistake of thinking of DVC as a financial investment. It is a vacation investment only. In 2042/2054/2057/2060 (depending on your home resort and contract), you've got nothing.

[tizzo]

I've never been able to figure out why this is a good deal myself. But I think the "buying a house" analogy is a very poor one that makes things even muddier. I know that they talk about ownership and it's a bit part of the selling point and all, but the fact remains that when all is said and done, when your mortgage is paid off and as long as you keep up your maintenance and taxes, you still own a house at the end of the day. With DVC, if you pay all your fees and maintenance on time without fail, and pay off your mortgage (or whatever they consider the loan you use to buy in), when all is said and done you have - nothing.

Anyway, even if the ownership stake was real, when I took a look at it it seemed as though the cost of paying annual maintenance and fees, plus the fee you pay when you use your points, you ended up paying as much cash per year as you'd spend if you simply stayed for the same length of time in a plain old hotel room. So it's like you bought the room, you have to pay just as much as you'd pay for hotel room rates when you want to stay in the room, and when it's all done Disney takes it back from you and sells it to someone else. I always figured I had something wrong in the math, but maybe not?

[zippitydoodah]

I looked into it once (as a far ahead in the future plan), but it seemed like unless my current vacation situation consists of going to deluxe resorts a lot (I've only been able to afford to stay on property twice, and both times it was Pop Century- which was a splurge) it's pretty pricey.

The big problem is that it does seem like they advertise it as being an "affordable" way to vacation, and I really don't think it is realistically affordable for most families. My family stays at the same off property resort every year, which is technically a timeshare place that just happens to rent out a few rooms. My mom looked into buying into it once, but it turned out to cost more than if we just rented it for a week each year. The only incentive is that they only have so many rooms to rent out, and so it may not be available some years and they also kept threatening to stop renting out rooms- so buying into the timeshare would ensure that its always available for us. I think that's the thing with the DVC thing as well (so ya, not for financial reasons). I myself would never buy into DVC cause it's just way too much money!

[Dizisit]

We're our own DVC...
We save as we can and do our homework and plan accordingly to get the best deals possible!

[doconeill]

Someone once did a break-even analysis on another site - I wish I had the numbers, but assuming for a modest inflation rate on the fees and the increase costs of a cash room, etc. it was figured out IIRC that if you typically vacationed every other year in a moderate room or above, you'd break even in 15 years...but your DVC membership was good for a lot longer than that.

[shelbell77]

First of all, to say it doesn't make sense to you is one thing. To say its a scam is something else entirely. There's nothing nefarious about it. There are certainly plenty of websites if you google it to talk about the financial break downs. For some it makes sense for others maybe it doesn't. I'm not going to get into the reasons why our family loves it in this forum. But I did want to point out that you are NOT locked into all your vacations being Disney. Families like mine love Disney and since my mom bought in 1992 we HAVE chosen ours to all be at Disney World, Disneyland, or on Disney Cruise Line (and all on our points) but there is also an exchange program that really allows you to go pretty much anywhere you want to. So you are certainly not stuck with Disney.

[elvistelth]

I think some people just want to feel like they're a part of something "Disney" and they use the alleged savings as an excuse.

[doconeill]

Just because you may not see a savings, it does not mean others don't as well.

It is NOT for people who don't or want to frequently go to WDW. Period. There are those that do, and for them it may make financial sense if they can afford the up-front cost.

[elvistelth]

Relax. It's just my opinion.
(you can tell because I started the post with "I think")

[Chrissy&Tayen]

if im going to invest that much.. i would start looking for a house..lol or a house boat...lol i could never give that much money and not physically own anything.. granted im from nowhereville KY but i have 4acres and yes its a single wide trailer but i can build.. but i get it for 40 thou and having it paid off in 15 yrs.. so you can see where i dont see the practical side of the vacation club...or any vacation club for that matter

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

I'm not a DVC member because it did not make financial sense for our family. We like the vacation home option, but I think DVC is a personal decision that is great for some. I also think that DVC members should receive TIW card when they pay their annual dues. They are amongst Disney's most loyal and best customers and deserve a few perks.

[GIOny]

The part I feel bad about for the DVC owners is that Disney seems to keep taking away perks from them, I've heard several people and podcasts discuss this and it just doesn't seem fair. For me and my family I'm glad we didn't buy into it, we are more of a pay as you go family

[elvistelth]

if im going to invest that much.. i would start looking for a house..i could never give that much money and not physically own anything..

That's how I feel. I'd rather own a vacation house somewhere than a timeshare.