This DVC business

We stay at BCV one bedroom using cash every other year for 7 nights in August. To do that as a DVC member, it would run about $30K investment plus the dues per year.

And then I would have to clean my own room too! The horror!

1 Like

And anyway, to answer your question. The current price per point at Riviera is $188 with annual dues of $8.31/point. The number of point you buy is dependent upon how often you travel and what accommodations you want. I recommend looking through a points chart and mocking up a trip to see how many points it would take.

1 Like

If you’re considering DVC I would start with the following:

  • Decide which home resort you’d want, if this is important to you. Your home resort is the only one you can book 11 months out - all the others have a 7 month booking window, by which time the “home resort” owners have already booked their stays, so availability could be limited if it’s a popular time to go. Disney can sell you pretty much any resort if you want to go direct, you’ll just need to wait for them to get the point in a ROFR transaction (Right of First Refusal, where they buy back relatively points which are up for sale on the resale market).

  • Look into whether buying resale vs. direct from Disney is something you’d be interested in. You’ll save money that way, but you lose a few “perks”, plus the ability to finance through Disney if that’s something that interests you. Most resorts are available through resale.

  • Decide what size unit you’d stay in, and when you’re most likely to go. Then, look up the point charts for that period to see how many points you’d need. If you only plan to go every two years you’d obviously only need half the points, since you could bank them into the next use year.

  • Which brings me to the next point: read up on how DVC actually works. It’s frightening how many people buy in without understanding even the basics. We did lots of research before taking the plunge back in 2003. And I might add that we’ve never regretted it for a second - in fact, we’ve added on more points. Twice.

If you have any specific questions, ask away. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

There are a few things to keep in mind: 1. DVC works better for planners (this is great for you). I have Feb. 2020 booked and reminders set to book at 11 months for May and September trips. 2. You would book a studio - think long and hard where you would want to stay. Copper Creek studios are hard to book at exactly 11 months. They are about to go over $200 a point. Bolder Ridge is at WL. It is easier to book and resale points are around $100 a point (only 22 years instead of 50). 3. Know how many points you will need and then add more. When I bought my first contract one of the reasons I did not buy Poly was how many more points I would need (I did not realize CC would have so few studios- my fault).

Do the tour. I will likely do the Riviera tour when I’m there just for the perks, but also to see it. It will answer lots of your questions (though make you want to spend more money than you might want to :grin: )

We have been DVC since 2006 at AKL and I just added WL/CC. 2 160 point contracts at AKL cost me $30,000 in 2006 and are about $2000/year (together) in dues and property taxes. the WL/CC contract cost me $30,000 for 175 points. I note this to illustrate the value: you shouldn’t buy with intent to sell, but if you decide it was a mistake you are not likely to lose much, if anything – prices keep going up, even on the resale market. I also note it because DVC owners are always saying they wish they had bought more originally :smile:

One thing to keep strongly in mind is that at your home resort you can book 11 months out. At your non-home resorts you can book 7 months out. With 11 months out, you can pretty much get whatever you want. I booked WL/CC a couple of weeks ago for April 2020 – Start Wars race weekend. I got the studio I wanted for 4 nights. Then when the window opened I got the studio at Jambo I wanted for a second 5 nights. That is not likely to work 7 months out.

If I look out 7 months at resort availability on the DVC owners site (I’ve got it pulled up now), there is little of studios anywhere except Old Key West and Saratoga Springs. One and Two bedrooms vary by resort, and often not for all the days I entered that I wanted to reserve (the window is Xmas and New years, so that makes it tougher, but just to illustrate). Lots of 3 bedrooms and cabins, but they are a crazy lot of points.

So one of the pieces of advice is to buy where you want to stay: that way you get the 11 month window, which is an advantage. You can usually get something – I have booked as late as 2 months or so and got SSR or OKW – but if you care where you stay, consider the advantage of buying where you want to stay.

Resale saves money, so do consider it. However, a couple of things (1) Disney has first right of refusal so if you make an offer on a resale listing Disney might buy it up, so this process takes time (2) resale contracts no longer carry all the DVC perks. So one recommendation is to buy a small contract direct (so you get all the DVC perks) and then buy resale so you have points where you want. And (3) the contract is not from when you buy it – it is from when the offering was initially made. So if you were to buy AKL, for example, it is not 50 years from now – it is 50 years from 2006. So look at the length of contract – that obviously affects the value.

You can also buy resale direct from Disney to get previous resorts. There are incentives with whatever they are currently selling (I got them for buying WL/CC before Riviera opened) but you do not HAVE to buy the current resort if you want to buy direct from Disney. Disney resale prices are – obviously — higher than the non-Disney resale market.

1 Like

I too recently bought a small direct contract. I made that decision because I wanted a “loaded” contract. @sanstitre_has_left_the_building, when you buy resale you often have to wait a few years for the points (this may not work for you). When I bought BW I got points for 2018, and in August I will get 2019 points. Most BW contracts on the resale market did not have any points before 2020 (for the small contract I wanted).

This only works (getting the loaded contract) when your use year begins after your contract month. My use year is March and I bought in March so I did not get the loaded 2018 points :frowning: But I’m still happy :slight_smile:

1 Like

This is all genuinely very interesting — and complicated! — but realistically there is very little chance of me actually buying into DVC.

First, I don’t have that kind of money

Second, I’m struggling to see how it represents good value. My six night stay at Pop in early December is costing me about $800 in accommodation costs. That’s less than the annual dues for a DVC contract. And that’s before the tens of thousands of dollars buying the contract in the first place.

I was maybe thinking about taking a tour (1) to get the gift card (2) to get the FPPs and (3) out of interest to look at a new resort.

I read one review of a DVC tour that said that after the video presentation each person was allocated a tour guide. Apparently the guide said, “We know a lot of people just book these tours for the $$$ and FPP. I don’t want to waste my time or yours. If you’re just here for those, you can have them, and then you can enjoy the rest of your day.” In other words, they didn’t actually have to have the tour. I don’t know if I’d have the balls to admit that I was just there for the perks. But then, equally, I don’t want to waste a salesperson’s time. Which I almost certainly would be.

Now I’m worried I’ve wasted all your time after you’ve all posted info but I’m unlikely to actually join the gang.

3 Likes

This NEVER happens on this site so you absolutely should be ashamed of yourself for getting all of us to obsessively answer your question :wink:

Also, I’m betting you will do the tour and start thinking “hmmm, I could stay in a NICE room at the Poly if I had DVC…”

3 Likes

Great point- DVC is best for people that want to stay deluxe.

3 Likes

Too soon.

Also — and this is surprising coming from me — I’m not actually that bothered about staying in a Deluxe resort. I hate people who say this sort of thing, but it is actually true that on a WDW vacation the room is really just somewhere to sleep. Yes, I want it to be a nice room and, yes, it’s nice if the resort has amenities, or is close to the parks, or whatever. But I’m honestly perfectly happy to stay at Pop.

I’ve just worked out that this calendar year I’ve spent $3,000 on WDW accommodations. Nine nights in July at CSR and six nights in December at Pop. Both standard rooms. That’s more than the annual dues, but then you’ve got the purchase price of the contract itself to consider.

2 Likes

This does not make you an ideal candidate for DVC. :grin:

2 Likes

I’m with @sanstitre_has_left_the_building, I’m more confused than when I started. We go to WDW once a year and prefer deluxe resorts, so I’ve looked at DVC but just don’t see how the numbers can work.

@Randall1028 said you can get in starting at $10K. I understand you buy points, big and better rooms are more points, better locations and time of year are more points.

Isn’t there a minimum amount of points you have buy? What does $10K get you?

Not that i would consider it at all - but someone said the contract was around $30000 - is that per year or is that a 1 time purchase - and if so, how long for? then you have your dues etc - does that buy also include park tickets or are those separate also?

The contract is for 50 years. The only additional cost outside of your contract price is annual dues which run a fixed price per point and vary depending on which resort you choose as your home resort. So, for example, if dues at Copper Creek are $2.32 per point per year and you buy 100 points there you’d spend $232 in annual dues each year.

I suspect the skyliner will put Pop and AoA on par with the epcot resorts for location. Unfortunately their prices will probably go up when that happens.

1 Like

Oh and theme park tickets cost extra. I think at the inception of DVC they may have been included.

You also pay real estate taxes

That was me – for AKL that got me 320 points which basically gets me 2 5-day stays at AKL in a one bedroom villa which costs non-DVC about $900-$1000/ night. We really do use the resort – especially AKL, and I have multiple family and friends I invite. The one bedroom has a washer and dryer, which has been important with littles, or when I go for race weekends.

So over 13 years ownership of DVC I would have had to spend $9000-$10000 per year to get the room I got by paying $30000 up front and about $2000/year in dues and taxes. That’s why it is worth it for my family, but it wouldn’t be for everyone, of course.

And I still have 37 years left on that original $30k investment. :grin:

2 Likes