re: Disney Vacation Club: Is it worth it?

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Yeah this isn't even remotely true.

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Want me to send you the spreadsheet I ran for proof? By the end of the contract, based on 3% annual increases on dues which is the average for the last 10 year period, your dues over 50 years will be well over $100,000. Then add your initial buy in and you are in for 150k

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I haven't used my points in a couple years (been banking them)

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Rent em out. Going through Daves you can get 14.50 - 15.50 a point, which will more than cover your annual dues.

14.50 * 260 = $3770. Assuming your dues are around $15-$1600, that's a nice little bonus.

Pocket the difference and apply to a non-disney vacation.

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I bought into DVC in 1993. I paid like $40 a point

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In 27 years, the price to buy new points from Disney has thus gone up almost 5X.

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In 27 years, the price to buy new points from Disney has thus gone up almost 5X.

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And the Dow Jones is up by 7.5X.

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And the Dow Jones is up by 7.5X.

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Yeah, that money would have been better invested in D.J.

It’s not meant to be an investment.

DVC is a luxury item meant to give people “cheaper” access to condo-style resorts on property at Disney. Period. If you go yearly and want to stay in a place with a kitchen and laundry in the room while getting the perks of staying on site, this is an option for you. Over time, it can make sense. If I was in the market now, I’d rent 100% of the time though. This thing was a steal in 1993 when the points were cheap and the tickets were included. Disney didn’t market it then though. It wasn’t a money maker and it was just one resort. But they noticed that the people who bought in spent the most while on property and they also stayed the most often. DVC members were big spenders. And they still are. But it’s been a huge promotion since the early 2000s when kiosks started popping up in the parks. Since then they’ve slowly stripped away perks and even more so for the resale contracts.

My point was that Disney wasn’t trying to make money on DVC Itself at the time. They were simply trying to lock in a customer base for 50 years thinking it could be a model for a more stable customer, not necessarily one that spent more than others. They didn’t know what they had until they realized the money these people would spend. Eventually, as they promoted DVC to bring in more of these consistent high spenders, they had enough of a base with enough points out to start removing perks and making the buy-in equivalent of a major purchase like a car even offering loans (which are an absolutely terrible idea).

What they have a love/hate relationship with is the resale market. They love that it’s strong because it weeds out people who won’t go spend money in the parks anymore and transfers the contract to a family who will. But Disney itself doesn’t get any upfront money on that. The racket is the right of first refusal where they can purchase ANY contract that is sold for the sales price. This does two things. They can price fix to an extent and they can resell those points with plenty of overhead likely to someone who’s going to spend more than the person buying the resale contract. Because they noticed that while resale buyers tend to spend more money than the average guest, they spend way less than people who can afford the direct contract. There’s the rub. They want a strong resale market but not too strong because it lowers the ROR per DVC member.