DVC Resort Reviews

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

EasyWDW has been posting some sponsored DVC resort reviews. Basically, a company is letting him have a 1 night stay for free in exchange for him posting a review. They've come at an interesting time because I've been playing with the idea of buying a resale. 

 

 

Wilderness Lodge

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/wilderness-lodge-1-bedroom-villa-disney-vacation-club-review/#more-15308

 

Saratoga Springs

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/saratoga-springs-1-bedroom-disney-vacation-club-review/

 

Old Key West

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/disneys-old-key-west-resort-1-bedroom-disney-vacation-club-review/

 

More are coming, and I'll add to this thread.

 

I figure this interests people looking at DVC, people who already own DVC, and people looking to rent DVC points. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

SSR is a great place we really enjoy it.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

So he's basically being paid to write a review of their property.

How much credibility can you give someone who is being paid to write a review?

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

So he's basically being paid to write a review of their property.

How much credibility can you give someone who is being paid to write a review?

 

Yep.

 

 

I've mentioned before that my brother and his wife are DVC members, but I'm confused on exactly how it works as they always stay at different places...??   Anyway, I know that they've been happy with their decision to buy in.  If that helps any :)

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Yep.

I've mentioned before that my brother and his wife are DVC members, but I'm confused on exactly how it works as they always stay at different places...?? Anyway, I know that they've been happy with their decision to buy in. If that helps any :)

It's actually quite simple. You buy points. Each resort, and every type of room ( studio, 1 bed, 2 bd, etc). Is worth some many points. Say you buy into the AKV. You and your family come every summer in June and stay for a week in a one bedroom. That cost 180 points. So you buy 180 points. One year you decide to go to SSR. Well at SSR a week in June costs 175 points. Since you have enough points no problem.

Now if you wanted to stay at Beach club Vilas the following year you check and it cost you 200 points for a week but it costs 180 for 6 days. So you can just book a 6 day trip. Amd here's were it can be confusing so I won't try to explain it but there are options if you wanted to stay for a week at BCV.

Figures are for explanation purposes. Not the actual points needed.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

The other difference is you can book at 11 months out at your "home" resort and 7 months out at the other DVC properties.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Gotcha.  They usually use their "points" every other year... so I'm guessing you can save them?  I know one trip they spent a week over in Hawaii and this last trip in October, they had enough points to do 4 nights at AKL then 3 nights at Bay Lake Towers in the Contemporary.... followed by (after a 7 night Disney cruise) 2 nights at another resort, I can't remember which one.  This trip was a lot of Disney... haha :)

[dblr....Rennie 224]

You can bank points for only one year, so you would have 2 years points to use for a longer or higher level resort. And to confuse you even more you could bank & borrow..... but that's a different lesson.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

GDF-

 

Since you're looking in to this, can you share how much a point costs? I'm curious how much it would cost to buy in to the new Polynesian DVC.  How much would it cost to buy enough points to stay in one of those bungalows for a week each year?

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

So he's basically being paid to write a review of their property.

How much credibility can you give someone who is being paid to write a review?

 

He's mostly giving detailed pictures and showing what is available at each, so I trust the review. Sure, it might be slightly pro-DVC, but I think showing what is available is helpful. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

GDF-

 

Since you're looking in to this, can you share how much a point costs? I'm curious how much it would cost to buy in to the new Polynesian DVC.  How much would it cost to buy enough points to stay in one of those bungalows for a week each year?

 

TCD

 

I think the current point cost is something like $160 a point. However, you can buy resales for between $60-105 a point. 

 

I estimate the cost of one of those bungalows to be $100,000 a week. Ha ha ha! Actually, I'll check though. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Here's a link. The number of points varies a lot depending on the time of year. For the 2 bedroom Poly Bungalows...

 

A week between Dec 1-15 is 841 points.

A week between Dec 24-31 is 1439 points.

 

For comparison at the WL, a week in a 2 bedroom between Dec 1-15 is 269 points. A week between Dec 24-31 is 457. 

 

If you buy the points at the Poly, they're currently $165 each. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Links to where I found the info... http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/pricing-a-promotions

 

http://www.resalesdvc.com/DVC_Point_Charts_2015/page_2602933.html

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here's a link. The number of points varies a lot depending on the time of year. For the 2 bedroom Poly Bungalows...

 

A week between Dec 1-15 is 841 points.

A week between Dec 24-31 is 1439 points.

 

For comparison at the WL, a week in a 2 bedroom between Dec 1-15 is 269 points. A week between Dec 24-31 is 457. 

 

If you buy the points at the Poly, they're currently $165 each. 

 

OK, let's go with the lower cost for early December.

 

841 points x $165 is $138,765.

 

If I pay that up front, I get the right to stay there for a week each year for how many years?

 

And there are maintenance fees too, right?  How much are those?

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

OK, let's go with the lower cost for early December.

 

841 points x $165 is $138,765.

 

If I pay that up front, I get the right to stay there for a week each year for how many years?

 

And there are maintenance fees too, right?  How much are those?

 

TCD

 

Yep, $6.02 per point at that resort, apparently. 

 

I can't find the expiration date. It's too new to be listed on the charts I'm finding. I think they're usually good for 40 years. Someone can correct me though. 

[dblr....Rennie 224]

OK, let's go with the lower cost for early December.

 

841 points x $165 is $138,765.

 

If I pay that up front, I get the right to stay there for a week each year for how many years?

 

And there are maintenance fees too, right?  How much are those?

 

TCD

I believe it is 40 years or maybe 50( senior moment) and yes maintenance fees yearly based on how many points you have and per resort, so there would probably be high.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yep, $6.02 per point at that resort, apparently. 

 

I can't find the expiration date. It's too new to be listed on the charts I'm finding. I think they're usually good for 40 years. Someone can correct me though. 

 

Thanks.

 

So, in addition to my initial outlay of $139K, I have the obligation to pay $5062.82 a year ($421.91 monthly) for 30 or 40 years.

 

I assume those maintenance assessments can go up each year, right?

 

All of this for just one week per year (and not a holiday week at that).

 

No wonder Disney is cranking out the DVC's.

 

TCD

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

$20,146.00. That's what it would cost to rent a bungalow over Christmas. December 24-January 31st.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Can someone give me a more reasonable example?

 

Like what would it cost to buy enough points for a one week stay at a Saratoga Springs 1 BR in the summer?

 

And what are the maintenance fees there?

 

TCD

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

But that eoukd require 1439 points and that would set you back only $237,435.00 (plus annual maintenance fees.)

So if my math is correct it would take about 18-19 years to break even.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Can someone give me a more reasonable example?

Like what would it cost to buy enough points for a one week stay at a Saratoga Springs 1 BR in the summer?

And what are the maintenance fees there?

TCD

We use a company that sells points for DVC members. We've used them twice.

If you wanted to stay at SSR from June 20-27 it would cost you $3374.00. Which is 241 points. Or $39,765 (if you buy direct from Disney).

In the secondary market you can get points for under $100 or about $24,100.00. I'm on my phone so I don't know how the current maintenance fees.

[Memphis 105]

:bugeyes: Someone help I can't catch my breath.  You need to put a warning before posting numbers like that.  :dropjaw:

[lklasing 16]

Can someone give me a more reasonable example?

 

Like what would it cost to buy enough points for a one week stay at a Saratoga Springs 1 BR in the summer?

 

And what are the maintenance fees there?

 

TCD

 

I think SSR for a week during the summer for a 1BR would be 241 points.  OKW (which I like lots better - bigger rooms, better ambiance, in my opinion) would be slightly less at 222.

 

For dues, our dues this year for SSR were $1151.  We have 220 points there.  Last year they were $1072 for the same contract.  So obviously they can and do go up.  I believe that the dues are higher for the older properties like OKW and SSR as the maintenance can be higher.  We also own a smaller contract at Vero and the dues there are pretty high, based from what I hear on location (storms on the beach, etc.)

 

The biggest financial problem with owning DVC, for us at least, is that we now travel to WDW many times more than we ever would have before.  We have stayed in many places we never would have stayed, in bigger units than we ever had before.  So while that doesn't actually qualify as a problem, it definitely has increased our overall WDW budget.  But dang, we have a good time there!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

:bugeyes: Someone help I can't catch my breath.  You need to put a warning before posting numbers like that.  :dropjaw:

 

No joke.

 

I've looked at DVC several times, and I don't understand how anyone can think it's a wise purchase.

 

To me, it's a larger scale, much more expensive version of the Disney Dining Plan.  You are prepaying a premium price for something that you are very unlikely to recoup.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

As long as we're crunching numbers, let's look at the new Polynesian bungalows from Disney's point of view.

 

Using the example above, a DVC owner would pay $138,765 for enough points for a one week stay.  If they sold-out 52 weeks worth of points for that bungalow at that rate (which isn't even the highest rate), Disney gets $7,215,780 for that shack on their fake lake.  $7.2 million bucks for something that probably cost less than $150K to build.

 

And, that's not all.  If the maintenance fees are $5062 a year (currently) for each week owned, then they rake in $263,266 per bungalow every year.  Just one year of fees is enough for them to replace an entire bungalow, and they're going to collect those (and adjust them upward when the units get older) for 30-40 years.

 

Brilliant.

 

TCD