Is DVC for me? Does it make sense if I only stay in Moderate Resorts?
Part three of a four-part series comparing Disney Vacation Club membership with a current Disney vacation
Is DVC a viable option for people who only stay at moderate resorts? The moderate resorts are Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Port Orleans Riverside. The accommodations at these resorts are more extensive and nicer than the value resorts. The lowest average price for a standard studio is at Coronado Springs. Again, the cost of accommodations can be much higher, even at one of the moderate resorts, but let's input the lowest room category for this analysis.
I put in a seven-day time frame that generated the average rack rate for Coronado Springs. I compared it to the same home resort and a vacation in a standard room at Animal Kingdom used for the value room scenarios. I assumed a Disney vacation every year. For a family of four and a rack rate discount of 10% along with taxes,
For DVC, I used an Animal Kingdom contract purchase with enough points to get a standard studio. The average point requirement is 105 points.
I used an average increase of 4% for both the value room and the DVC annual dues.
You may be surprised by the results. The break-even point is 9 years from purchasing a resale contract and 13 years on a DVC purchase directly from Disney. Families who take a Disney vacation often and stay in moderate resorts may find DVC ownership attractive.
After the initial cost, the only expense is the annual maintenance dues. They will increase every year. If the past is any indication, these increases will be 2-6% from year to year.
On the other hand, Disney room rates will go up as well. Once your initial cost is accounted for, your vacations become somewhat inflation-proof. DVC owners know that the resort's overall points cannot change yearly; only the annual dues/point will change. There may be a shuffling of points between accommodations, but there should be a point reduction somewhere for every point requirement increase. Even though annual dues cost/point will go up proportionally, they are much lower than the yearly room rates. So being a DVC member will still require you to make an annual financial commitment, but it probably will be much less than what you pay for a Disney resort room.
Great care has gone into making this financial model representative of the real world, but you should use this only as a guide. I make no guarantees that the information is 100% correct. Disney can change the hotel rates or the policies from time to time; however, this is unusual. Disney does discount room rates based on availability, seasonal promotions, or regional discounts. The model allows you to factor these into your analysis. The hotel rack rates in the model were taken from the website www.mousesavers.com. Please visit this site as you will find a lot of information to save you money on your Disney World vacation.
DVC Field Guide
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The DVC Field Guide is a comprehensive work devoted to helping you answer the question, Is the Disney Vacation Club for me? If you've already decided to become a DVC member, this guide can help you maximize your membership and make your vacations even better.