Is Disney Vacation Club worth it? The most comprehensive numbers breakdown on the internet.

[@annamorgan9688]

As a blurred out family member- I can attest that was a fun trip :)

[@ASRich-dg3lw]

DVC was a fantastic purchase for my family 25 years ago, but the costs today are more than triple what we paid. Our kids have grown-up going to Disney locations, but now we rent our points since we don't need the same size accommodations any longer. We still have annual passes, but only for my wife and I. We've definitely received our money's worth for the DVC purchase.

[@daisycocoa2557]

He’s comparing apples to oranges in regards to the room

[@douglasfeldman7800]

For your analysis, you have to apply a discount rate to adjust the value of future cash flows.

[@jeremybullen655]

An initial investment of $50k in no-risk HYSA or CDs at 5% APY would return $2500 annually, same amount as your dues. That’s $2500 to spend however you want at disney every single year, and you obviously keep the $50k. This comparison assumes that you even have the initial amount to start, which this host did not. If you need a loan then you cant afford it and the math never works out, even if you spend all points at the cheapest home resort.

[@ziggy4465]

The initial DVC purchase paid for itself in 5 visits, which happened in less than 3 years. We only have 150 points, so our dues are less than the example. The dues we pay each year also less than the cost of accommodations, so every year we have it…it’s like “free money”. Accommodations are the biggest expense of a Disney trip (if you stay on property and stay in deluxe resorts like we always have). This was one way to allow us multiple trips per year and when combined with annual passes, the savings was even more. Our contract was only for 40 years, but well worth it.

[@justinreagan5702]

This assumes the health to travel three and four decades after purchase let alone being alive that long after purchase, particularly for those in their 30s or 40s when purchasing.

[@foxhound34]

This. Plus he changed the frequency of travel from every year to multiple times a year and if you have to get on plane each time those presumed savings go out the window.

[@Successfinder123]

@@justinreagan5702 what don’t you get about you can rent out your points?

[@allisongonzalez7087]

But you can leave it in the will for family if life is cut short.

[@Successfinder123]

@ yes

[@amymelsoner5775]

I asked my kids what they thought. They agreed and understood.

[@stephensherlock5307]

I can’t make any financial sense out of this at all. It’s no wonder people don’t have any money to retire. Just take the 4 year loan payments plus the yearly maintenance fee, invest it in any decent mutual fund and in 50 years you’d be quite wealthy. Then look at that amount of money and see if your Disney vacations were worth it. The video is just trying to rationalize this extravagant purchase. Foolishness.

[@OxygenBeats]

100%

[@allisongonzalez7087]

I am a DVC member and have no regrets about this large purchase. Our Schwab financial planner is a DVC member too. We work hard so we can play hard. We invest and are doing very well. If someone can't afford it, they shouldn't do it. It's not the best idea to finance but it's a personal decision.

[@stephensherlock5307]

@@allisongonzalez7087 Hi Allison. I agree with you. To be a member of the DVC is a lifestyle choice.

[@GeorgeGoire]

Thanks for this video and info. Just wondering about the actual cost per point. On your screenshot, you had a loan amount of $47,376 is that the original loan principal? If so, assuming 10% interest a loan calculator shows a payment of $626 per month to payoff in 10 years, and will require additional $580 per month to pay it off in 4 years. That comes to a total payments of $57,800 to pay off the loan in 4 years including the interest. That would make your cost per point around $193/per point.

[@thejosharana88]

He said around the 1:20 mark that his cost per point at the time was $156. My wife and I spoke with a DVC rep yesterday and they shared that current point cost $239!

[@GeorgeGoire]

@@thejosharana88 yes, $239 is the current cost per point for Disneyland hotel and $225 for Riviera and Poly, quite expensive. Now, regarding his cost per point, John is doing a simple division of total cost ($47,000) divided by the number of points (300) to get to $156. My point is that he is not taking into account the loan he had to take ($47,000) to pay for the points since he did not pay cash. That is what I am showing in my comment, his true cost per point is close to $193 when taking into account the interest he paid assuming a 10% interest rate on that loan for about 4 years (the time he took to pay the loan off).

[@fiddler-dv4or]

50 year contract!?! That's longer than any mortgage by 20 more years! Crazy.

[@Successfinder123]

It’s not a mortgage though

[@midwesternfellowship1237]

Why in the world would anyone commit to 50 years? That’s a bigger commitment than most marriages.

[@stevek1971]

Just a quick note. The points per night / week can change from year to year. If they want to change the points for a week , they have to lower the points somewhere else on the chart. Think of it this way. they can move points around the chart anyway they want., but what can’t change is the total point number ( like a spreadsheet all the points in a vertical column also have equal the same number in the horizontal column) I hope this make sense. They usually don’t modify the points charts to much, I have seen them increase because of popularity and holidays. I think is still a good buy if you use it.

[@yankeesusa1]

It's crazy what people are getting into lol. We've calculated the costs and usually we do 4 or 5 nights and it's crazy how outrageous it would be join dvc. Over $22,000 for a contract and instead we can pay for 4 nights at wilderness Lodge for less than $2,200 with discounts which are always available. Then we can stay again without having any fees or dues.

[@Ron-x7j]

It does pay for itself within about 7 years even considering the cost of the money and dues. We also vacation longer and more often with the savings. It makes a ton of sense if Disney is in your plans anyway. Once it is paid back, those wilderness lodge stays are a fraction of that 2,200.

[@cbj-fi2wl]

Appreciate the added color and enjoyed the math! But you also don't take into consideration potential discounts offered, or your ability to invest that initial $47,000 upfront. The value gets ALOT murkier then, but even so, agreed the value to be had if you ALWAYS stay at a Deluxe Resort and visit multiple times per year (and expect that to continue into the future)...

[@meganryan3119]

I love this super transparent video! Thank you. But, your calcs assume I’m someone who pays for deluxe hotels. I only stay at all-stars since I spend every moment in the parks. I go 2-3 times a year, and split with a friend so I don’t think DVC would be worth it to me. So happy to have seen the prices break down for Dvc, Ive researched it couple times and always felt like they never tell you the true prices

[@JohnStanton]

yeah, that's a very good point that I didn't have the foresight to include, if you don't stay at deluxe resorts.....absolutely stay away! Thanks for the comment.

[@Successfinder123]

I don’t agree if you go every year, you should get dvc regardless if you stay at a value resort or not. you are essentially getting deluxe for the price of less than a value. Remember you are basicallt locking in a price for a specific timeframe. I bought in 2018 and at my price per point plus the dues I am paying less than what it cost for a value resort at this very moment. At the time, I probably wasn’t because you could get a value resort in 2018 for about $100 a night but now you can’t get a value resort unless it is severely for less than $160-$180 a night. This video also doesn’t take into account discounts as a DVC member you have access to the highest Florida resident only pass which saves an out-of-state pass holder over $400 a person.

[@OxygenBeats]

@@Successfinder123 Damn you really got a hard on for Disney. The rate is less but you forget you have to pay interest. And if you invested your money in something like the Stock Market or crypto, your profits could more than cover the price difference.

[@jhillestad]

He didn’t account for point inflation…. it could cost 300 points for a week years from now plus dues go up never down

[@allent1034]

Actually the points do not increase with inflation. Once a resort is built and they determine the point value per room/night, it never increases. The annual dues are what increases each year.

[@jhillestad]

So a 9 point stay in September will still be 9 points 40 years from now ? So why the yearly point charts

[@allent1034]

⁠@@jhillestad Good question. The number of points at a resort stay the same but they could for example, raise a night in September to 10 points but would have to lower a night some other month a point to balance. All the annual charts I’ve seen have stayed the same. Only the cost of maintenance per point goes up. You should only need to buy more points if you wanted to stay more nights or stay during a higher priced time period. September is usually the cheapest month to stay.

[@jhillestad]

@@allent1034 So why the yearly point charts ?

[@allent1034]

@@jhillestada couple of scenarios that could change the point charts are if they added on a new type room to the resort; they assumed one location or type of room would be in high demand but it turns out it is another, a floating Holliday like Easter which falls in different weeks every year, and maybe some others. But if they raise the points for one room or week, they must lower another to balance it. You don’t need to keep getting more points to stay the same number of nights in your preferred room every year. You do need to pay more maintenance cost for those points though.

[@cagentz8581]

Uses rack rate to ‘assume’ a savings, while ignoring maintenance fees go up. Lol.

[@allisongonzalez7087]

Yes, but the increase of the nightly rates are significantly higher than the fees and if you look back even just a few years to see how much the prices have gone up to stay "rack rate", it's crazy.

[@saraibucciarelli1821]

You could invest that money in retirement fund, or college fund, or new house.. and I bet maintenance costs will not be $2500 for the next 50 years.

[@a-totally-random-person]

It's a 40-year contract to pay WHATEVER Disney charges you in dues. You're insane if you do this.

[@allent1034]

Thanks for the info. However, I wouldn't compare the DVC costs to Disney's rack-rate for the rooms. I would compare it to what I can rent the rooms from owners who are renting them out because they can't go. Typically, those prices are still higher than the annual dues the owner paid but if you wait, the owners really discount the rent when it gets within a month or two of the date and they worry they might not be able to rent it. So if you are definitely going every year then sure it pencils out but not many of us will be going for 50 years. Luckily, Disney points do have an after-market value. It is 50% to 60% of what you paid for them from Disney. If I buy it will be after-market. You lose some perks if you don't buy direct but to me, not a big loss.

[@colincartee2145]

Another reason not to buy is club level. We really enjoy club level and with DVC you do not have access to those rooms. For that reason, we’ll just pay. Or maybe rent points every once in a while. Good vid

[@garyrockwood-ed1xw]

Doesn’t include park tickets.

[@kimberiysmarketstrategy]

No..I stayed at Animal Kingdom in October for 300 a night. I looked at DVC, my friend has it. Now Hawaii...thats the one thats so beautiful! It was beyond.

[@MissMyMusicAddiction]

$500/night for saratoga vs. $250 for Swan? that's....a lot.

[@RyanChowansky]

I stay at Dolphin a lot. Also add in 30/day parking and 45/day resort fee

[@MissMyMusicAddiction]

@ i can't remember the last time i rented a car, so i forgot about the parking fee. there are a number of other inexpensive places that i've stayed that have parking fees, too. the last time i stayed at a disney resort, i thought there was a resort fee, too. maybe i'm remembering that wrong.

[@a-totally-random-person]

1 thing no one ever talks about: you would never pay that kinda money to stay there that often is you didn't already give them a year's salary. And they raise the dues at THEIR WILL every year.

[@jhillestad]

Or buy a place near disney and now you are your own dvc resort

[@keithDaBest]

Well Put! But you didn't mention the cost of the actual park pass. You still need to buy admissions to the park, or an annual pass, which adds again, thousands upon the yearly tally..

[@vistabadboi]

dues will increase every year

[@BriggsStratton11]

3:46 68+139+97=304

[@OxygenBeats]

His math was off a lot in the video. I wonder if he was in a similar mind state when he made the decision to green-light this contract.

[@canyonoverlook9937]

why pay so much for the Contemporary when you won't even be in the room that much? You will be in the park a lot of the time.

[@allisongonzalez7087]

Ignore the hateful and insulting comments. We are members too and love it. We wouldn't have purchased if we couldn't afford it and it's nice to "own it outright". If we have the money to spend on this, why should they care? Riviera is our home resort and I think I would live there if I could. lol. It smells amazing, the food is yummy and it's classy but not pretentious.

[@jeremybullen655]

But did you purchase or did you finance? Big difference

[@aaa5442]

What the ?? Buy 220 points for $105 which is half the new price. Go every year and breakeven in 4 yrs at ANimal kingdom lodge. Why would anyone buy brand new $200 points.

[@the_traveling_texan]

You still have to pay for the park tickets haha

[@Successfinder123]

@@the_traveling_texan you have to pay for park tickets regardless.

[@Lancun]

And what's more, even if you buy the cheaper Sorcerer Pass that DVC members can access, you're still subject to blockout dates. If I just handed Disney 150 grand, you'd best believe I'm walking into those parks any day I want. Total scam of a sales model.

[@Successfinder123]

@@Lancun who’s giving Disney $150 grand? You clealy don’t know how anything at Disney works.

[@Lancun]

@@Successfinder123 He went into his numbers in this video and came to 147 grand for a 50 year contract. I'll stick to cheap hotels if I go to the parks and spend most of my day there. A fool and their money is soon parted.

[@ASRich-dg3lw]

Great point. Park tickets are one of the perks that initially were offered with a DVC purchase, so losing that perk was like adding more dues.

[@charlesnye1736]

A sucker is born every minute.

[@shaluminati]

​@@richardwallerstein539the fees aren't even locked in. They increase every year.

[@hannahbiggerstaff8944]

don’t hate on dr stanton!! he’s the best 💔

[@Alycia_Hernandez1]

It makes sense. Hotels are very expensive.

[@marcgoldbergdogtrainer]

$47,000? 😂

[@o_oo_o1812]

if he rented all of his points this year, that would be over $6000.

[@OxygenBeats]

Holy ****, I can't imagine spending $50k on that. I'm especially not a fan of all the woke/trans stuff they are introducing, but even with that aside, this contract essentially means that you better only ever go to some Disney resort for vacation. Either that or you vacation all the time which sounds like a very unproductive life. Or it could make sense if you're mega rich, but if you're mega rich, you can afford to just go when you can/want to go. I don't think Disney is worth it. What value do you get out of Disney? It's not educational or beneficial in any truly meaningful way. You are teaching your kids to be infatuated with a company that's slow rolling out the gay/trans agenda and teaching them bad morals + chop your dick off. And if it's a 50 year contract, then you are LOCKED IN, no matter how bad the agenda gets or how bad Disney becomes. At best, it's going to spoil the kids. And that's a lot of money down the drown to spoil your kids. I'd rather go once maybe every 5 or 10 years (if at all) and say, "Hey if this is something you REALLY want to do again, you better get to work fundraising or working a job or making money somehow".

[@BaileyIsAwakeYT]

Glad you got that off your chest? LOL

[@Amanda-zg9pz]

This post is a bit extreme. They’ve moved away from the “woke” stuff TBH and are more focused on family friendly experiences, similar to how it was before 2016-2018. But I do agree that timeshares more broadly are not a good purchase. Even DVC, which is supposedly the “best timeshare you can purchase”, is still bad. You pay for points that you have to use or else they expire. It’s sort of like purchasing constant gift cards to a store you may like a lot. Sure you will use them but maybe you want to try something else, it’s forcing you to stay within its constraints on your travel options. To its credit the Disney brand definitely treats its DVC members much better than Wyndham, Hilton etc… but that doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. I can get last minute stays at Disney Boardwalk Villas and Disney Old Key West for $150-$170/night. And I don’t have to worry about maintenance fees or annual dues. You can even buy Disney points from owners for a given year so that you can use the benefit without having to pay into the membership. Overall no timeshares are a good deal but I love utilizing the service, it’s just better to do it through work arounds, especially if you have a flexible schedule and can do last minute travel.

[@Successfinder123]

@@OxygenBeats imagine being this stupid.

[@ryukagesama]

​@@BaileyIsAwakeYT Their user name is misleading. I don't think they're getting enough oxygen.

[@OxygenBeats]

@@Amanda-zg9pz I'd say the purchase is much more extreme. And the Disney bandwagon is extreme. I went to Disney World a couple years ago because my wife wanted us to take the family there. And I went to Disney Land when I was a kid. My experience as a child was that it was mediocre. My experience as an adult is that it's overpriced. You have to pay $40+ for Mickey Mouse ears that honestly cost much less than $1 to produce. Everything is completely over priced. I'm not sure if you realize how overpriced everything is. You're paying a TON for brand recognition and brand loyalty alone. I live near Boise and we have a very large water park that is just as fun, if not more fun, for a fraction of the price. If you add in airfare, lodging, etc.. then the local option really makes more sense. Perhaps the Disney deal makes more sense if you are a local to the Orlando or L.A. area. But even then, it only makes sense if you have a ton of extra cash on hand. If you have that much money, it makes me question if you really need to be pinching pennies in the first place. But aside from that, a 50 year contract, especially if you have to take out a loan just to pay off where you are paying so much in interest, doesn't make financial sense. If you invested that $50k in the stock market, the dividends would more than pay for the difference in pricing. Overpaying that much and putting yourself in debt simply out of brand loyalty is extremely stupid. Also, Disney is infecting the minds of your children, and it's not to teach them math or history or anything like that. If you really care about your children, I suggest shows like Numberblocks. They do a great job at incorporating educational material with entertainment. But after watching Turning Red, the only thing my daughter learned was to twerk and grind her butt up on people. 90% of the movie is good, but they inject subliminal messaging into everything. What makes you think they are moving away from that?

[@aaa5442]

What the ?? Buy 220 points for $105 which is half the new price. Go everywhere and breakeven in 4 yrs at ANimal kingdom lodge. Why would anyone buy brand new $200 points.

[@allent1034]

Great question. If I bought, it would be aftermarket points also. However, Disney is making it tough to buy/sell points aftermarket by putting limitations on where and how you can use the points. So just research on what the restrictions are and if it is still worth it, do it.