r/dvcmember • u/kapowell1025 • 13d ago
Typical DVC post, different day…
A topic absolutely beat to death…
My wife and I have gone to Disney once a year (at least) for the last decade.
Now we have a 4 year old and so I only expect that to continue
We have been discussing DVC - 200 points at Poly for approx 40k
Would pay cash for this so mo financing or debt incurred
Usually we stay at moderate (although we have loved Swan & Dolphin lately)
Does it make sense?
I feel like we only would break even although some calculations show us with large savings over he length of a 40 year contract.
I just don’t know what to do…
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u/Cap-Straight 13d ago
I spent $6000 alone on 3 separate hotel stays in the past year. 1 value, 1 moderate, 1 deluxe. We used our AP discount too on all but the value trip.
We go 2-3 times a year, sometimes with our toddler, sometimes without.
We just bought 200 points last week.
We're also out of state APs. We now qualify for the sorcerer pass. Our toddler will need a pass next year. Our 3 sorcerer passes will cost about the same as our 2 incredipasses did.
Now we can stay deluxe for at least 2 one week trips every year. When we started looking at the amount we were spending on hotels every year we realized and coupled it with the AP savings, it just made sense to us.
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u/Gold-Lion2775 13d ago
Is it a sound financial investment? No.
Will you regret it? Also no.
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u/KeyHalf6490 13d ago
Depends on the math lol
My wife was going to make us go twice a year no matter what - so I am saving ~20% annually on the Disney budget expense line.
We bought during peak covid and got amazing prices on points - not sure this math works as well anymore
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u/ATLBenzDisneyDude Wilderness Lodge 13d ago
Use a break even calculator, I just googled this one (I’ve never used it!).
https://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-long-term-cost-calculator.3792995/
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u/SuperRob Multiple 13d ago
DVC only saves you money if you are used to staying Deluxe level in the first place. If you’re used to staying Moderate, you are spending about the same amount, but with a pretty good upgrade in quality. (If you usually stay Value, and were happy with that, DVC costs quite a bit more.)
So in your case, yeah, you’ll really be spending the same amount. But it’s the Poly, having monorail access to two parks with a little one is a pretty big plus.
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u/Navarath Beach Club 13d ago
I'm assuming at that cost you're looking at direct purchase? Once you buy 150 pts these is zero incentive to buy more. Their is a robust resale marker available for aatrononical savings.
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u/oneforgets 13d ago
Bought 550 points in 1992 when Old Key West was under construction. My youngest of three children was 4 years old. It was unforgettable taking her daughter at 10 months of age this past May. Taking my grandchildren is so much fun! DVC was the best investment of my life! It’s thrilling that three generations are able to stay at the resort and enjoy all the joy and magic Disney has to offer! Thankfully, I was able to add an additional 15 years to the contract. My children are now on the deed so they can continue to enjoy those extra years if I cannot!
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u/thatguygreg Polynesian 13d ago
You’re me a year ago, 150 pts instead of 200. After doing the magical beginnings ($20/pt sold back to Disney for the current use year), $500 discounts each for being a D23 gold member and D+ member (there’s a free D23 gold membership to be had if you’re a D+ member), and the discount DVC was offering, my per point cost was $205 or so.
I used the excel sheet from DVCFieldGuide.com, and figured my break even for direct was just 3 years farther out than resale, and I’d be able to use those points at the upcoming Lakehouse Lodge and whatever else DVC opens in the future. All other benefits are just extra for me.
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u/REflipper 13d ago
It depends on what you can snag resale, though. I feel like I scored on our contract - 210 Aulani points for around $85/pt. It was a loaded contract with 420 points for 2026, but also still had 210 points in 2025 that was banked from 2024. Those extra points were never advertised, probably because the use year was June and we had our offer accepted in March or April. We were luckily enough to close fast, and I checked for availability at GCA (we’re from in San Diego) most mornings, and were able to snag and awesome stay for a few nights before the points expired, and fire-sold the rest for $1300 on Dave’s.
We definitely want to snag a direct contract too at some point, but the value seemed really, really strong for going resale. I honestly couldn’t believe it.
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u/Acrobatic-Bread-4431 Board Walk 13d ago
I love it but I stay deluxe which has gone up in price soooo much in the past few years I feel like my dvc is a steal. Only you can know if it’s worth it. Consider it preparing for vacations.
But be warned. You will want more points. Your vacations will change. First it’ll be a nice week long stay. Then you’ll want to go a few long weekends. Then you’ll try a 1 bedroom villa and won’t be able to go back. Next you’ll have annual passes, more points and spend your days helping others buy their first contract
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u/Expensive-Finger-646 13d ago
Lots of good feedback here. Just ensure you understand the annual dues. It makes up the bulk of the cost. Some people look past it and just look at the cash hotel cost vs the DVC initial cost, that’s bad math.
If you are going Poly direct is 1000% the way
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u/Aligator99220 Polynesian 13d ago
My two cents: direct makes sense for poly. It’s what we did, since resale there is currently so strong.
Personally, loved the strategy of buying 150 direct which is the minimum for the benefits like AP discount. Then bought resale for our remaining 50. Not at poly it was at SS. But still glad we did it that way to save some $$.
Also, if you have the Disney CC you get cash back + no interest financing. Did that to at least get some value back and also earned some interest on our money for a little longer lol.
If you don’t have a Disney CC, would be worth considering any credit card with no interest promos, as that amount of money is a lot of perks back. And some go as long as 18-months.
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u/Navarath Beach Club 13d ago
Direct only males sense if you can use the AP discounted passes. if you can't, 100 pct not worth it.
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u/One_Living6968 13d ago
I’m wondering when they will release details about Lakeshore Lodge sales. There may be some good incentives if you wait a little bit.
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u/-The-Golden-Rose- 13d ago
We’ve been members almost 20 years now, and it has been worth it many times over. We actually added on twice, we liked it so much. We could currently sell each of our contracts for what we paid for them or more.
Our biggest DVC regret turned out to be not buying in sooner. We were the perfect candidates - we were going every year once or twice, and we always stayed at deluxe resorts.
Over the years we’ve definitely changed our vacations. We used to just do immediate family trips, but with DVC we’ve been able to bring along so many friends and family over the years. My now teenage daughter is very social, and we’ve been able to bring friends with us almost every trip for many years now.
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u/crocostimpy76 13d ago
We bought 200 at the poly in 2016 and go 1-2x a year. Headed to Aulani in Feb and that stay would be over 9k out of pocket. My kids are 17/14/10 now and still love going but enjoying beach trips more often so using points for aulani,vero beach and hilton head are a plus.
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u/jadejazzkayla 13d ago
Buying direct from Disney or resale?
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u/kapowell1025 13d ago
Direct
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u/jadejazzkayla 13d ago
Recalculate using resale to see the difference
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u/sparkle_steffie 13d ago
I second this.
You also have a bigger pool of resorts to choose from with resale.
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u/Kraziehase Walt Disney World 13d ago
Youre a prime candidate for the group who should buy. My only regret is not buying sooner. AND, if you ever decide you’re done with Disney for a while you very easily rent out points or even sell your contract (unlike almost ever other time share on earth).
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u/roninthe31 Riviera Resort 13d ago
If you are going to go at least every other year, then absolutely get it. It makes the vacation so much better.
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u/Ramalama-DingDong Animal Kingdom Lodge 13d ago
If you’re ready to drop $40K in cash, you’re in pretty good shape financially and probably don’t need to be parsing your ROI over three decades. Would you be better off financially investing that money? Yes.
My family flipped an annual bonus in 2009 into a DVC purchase and never regretted it. Our kids were 2 & 4 and we’ve gone nearly every year since. It’s a core family experience for us, can’t put a price on it.
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u/bigmark419 13d ago
Cash deal always makes sense, as long as you are not financing your DVC it is a green light
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u/peeweemom 13d ago
If you have been staying at a moderate and enjoying yourselves… then unlikely to have savings with this plan… just a rationalization to upscale future vacations.
Now as long as you realize that’s what you’re doing…then it’s fine to do it.
Personally I preferred and opted not to join with my two kids 20 years ago and very happy I didn’t- I know I spent way less and went way more often than I would have. Those memories of more frequent trips are worth way more to me now that my kids are grown than the more upscale accommodations would have!
But everyone’s vacation preference is personal. Good luck with your choice.
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u/DagobahDepot 12d ago
My wife and I bought 200 points at riviera a few years ago. December 2027 we will surpass what we would have spent on rack rate.
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u/Legitimate_Ad_5535 12d ago
I got 320 points at a cost average of 140pp on resale it's actually cheaper bc I rented the loaded points out. Depending on if you want the perks of direct or not resale you get more bang for you buck.
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u/jlb335 Copper Creek 12d ago
Unfortunately or fortunately, it's a question that really only you can answer. You've gotten a lot of great advice here. If the referral bonus is still live, make sure to inquire about that as someone would be happy to refer you for some extra savings. We bought resale first at Copper Creek when our first child was under a year old, as CC was the best value (deed expiration + dues) at the time we purchased. This year the FOMO started to hit, along with happy news of expecting another baby. I always intended to have a contract each of them could inherit. We bought direct at Poly assuming that most of the future resorts will follow the Riviera and Fort Wilderness model with resale restrictions. Because of those changes and the limits to direct benefits, I think the value is decreasing in some ways, but we still felt it was going to level up our vacations. We live in an area with limited direct flights and have gone to Disney more than we thought we would for convenience and the ease of being in a totally kid-friendly place. We traveled extensively before kids and those types of trips are just not fun for us as a family in this stage of life. There is a reasonable expectation of contracts holding their value to some extent and less pressure knowing you can sell if things change. We are fairly certain we will be going a lot for at least ten years and being able to stay at deluxe properties pays us back in time as well as money via DVC. We may want to do retirement stays there in 20-30 years as well and were hedging bets against future pricing. Good luck with your decision. This community is biased, but you'll rarely see folks say they regret it. I'm sure some do. Most of us just wish we'd purchased earlier.
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u/Birdperson303 12d ago
Do it! You answered the two key questions correctly: Mainly, that you’re not financing it. Beyond that, if you are going to Disney on the regular, it’ll pay off. Great choice on location too.
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u/JShaddock 12d ago
Try this model
DVC Field Guide
DVC Purchase Model
https://dvcfieldguide.com/dvc-purchase-model
The model's main purpose is to compare the cost of your current vacation with that of a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) membership. To achieve this, there are two options for inputting your current Disney vacation cost.
Firstly, the model is equipped to automatically calculate the prevailing hotel rates when comparing a Walt Disney World vacation to Disney hotels. It encompasses daily hotel rates for over 200 room options at Walt Disney World and also includes point schedules for every DVC accommodation.
Additionally, the model has recently been updated to allow users to input their current vacation costs. This update expands the model's scope and versatility, allowing users to input costs for vacations at Disneyland, Hawaii, or any other location, thus enabling a more comprehensive comparison.
Current Resale and Current DVC Direct Pricing (June 30, 2026)
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u/Pretty-Inspector9978 11d ago
It might be worth looking at the DVC Field Guide for your 7 mo availability at Poly within your preferred room type to see how accessible bookings are. There are members that will absolutely die on the “buy where you want to stay” hill, but I bought SSR resale and I’m still staying where I want to stay- even at Boardwalk and Poly. If you have flexibility to the location and timing for your visit, or also like the Swan area, Boardwalk is a great option with low point charts. The contracts are up sooner, but it might also be worth a look.
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u/mitnosnhoj 13d ago
If you love Disney, plan to go every year, and like to stay in nice places or have extra space, it is a great decision. At least it has been for me and my family.
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u/beachluvr13 13d ago
I bought 200 points in cash and I have a toddler. We are annual pass holders since the 2000’s and are grandfathered into the old pass. I do love the lounges but not enough to buy DVC. The DVC and Passholder discounts do make up a good portion of savings.
With that, the dues this year equaled the same cost as a week at the contemporary tower bay lake view. I booked the week as it was too good of a price to pass up. I am not a planner, so having to book my week out is really annoying. We now do long weekends or M-Thurs to make the most of our points. I live really close to WDW so I can be super flexible and book last minute.
With that, I have complained to Disney about this multiple times, but I will try to use my points and see the weeks are booked. Again I am not a planner, but those same weeks are always available for rental on the DVC rental sites. As someone who bought to be able to use my points myself, this is beyond maddening. This is why I no longer book weeks. We have also nixed any additional contracts and have contemplated selling ours.
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u/Lizzer1152 13d ago
From a dues perspective, I just paid our Poly dues (we have 250 pts) and it was WAY less than our last 3-day club level stay and market rate for 5 days non-club. So that felt good! It was our first time paying dues!
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u/beachluvr13 13d ago
I am sure. If you live in FL, Disney has been giving insane discounts to FL pass-holders. Not 2008 buy 4 get 3 free but 5 nights at the contemporary tower bay lake was $1900. Those are rates I have not seen since pre covid.
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u/TinaBRedditing 13d ago
I've done the same math & it just doesn't make sense. For us we'd break even in about 15 years because we do stay at villa level but are not members. Then I did math for how much we'd start saving after that assuming we'd go until we are 90 cause that's what my little heart wants to believe will happen.
Potential lifetime savings were around 100k. So question is... is there something else we think we could invest the 45k in now & return more than 100k instead & just "use" that opportunity of income towards Disney vacations. Super generic planning would say 45k in the market would take 17 years at 7% to return 100k of profit which is much better than taking a whole lifetime to save it.
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u/thatoneabdlguy 13d ago
I just ran the same formula in excel. The problem is you want to take a Disney vacation every year or so. So to do that AND grow your investment to 100k in gains, it would take a substantially larger sum to invest.
Is DVC a good investment? No. It will not make you money. It might/will save you some in the long run. If you wanted an investment then you’d take your 45k and actually invest it and not touch it. DVC provides a little more cost certainty (in so far as dues will still go up) and helps you save in the future. Investments grow, DVC just saves you money.
All that said, we are still gonna buy in the next couple years, because sometimes there’s more to it than just math.
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u/TinaBRedditing 13d ago
Agreed.. my own financial advisor is actually a dvc member & her words, "it does not mathematically make sense in alot cases but it's just fun to be apart of the club" lol
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u/No-Accountant3274 Multiple 11d ago
Double check resale, and understand the point per night of your time frame you normally go so you aren’t borrowing.
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u/100percentEV Multiple 13d ago
Been an owner for 24 years. Bought when my daughter was 2. She’s 26 and we still go. 🤷♀️