Hotel vs DVC

Ruban

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
We are a family of five and have been giving some thought to buying into DVC so that we can have a two week vacation in a 2 bed villa every other year. The main reason we have resisted is that Disney offer free dining on the hotels when you book a package holiday. So it came down to the commitment of DVC vs being squashed into the Yacht and Beach Club with free dining but no financial commitment.

Longer term have you found there are real savings once you take food into account?
 
Hi. We had the same thoughts re free dining and hotel vs villa. Its just two of us but I do need an apartment as I have a medical condition needing small kitchen and am disabled so need some extra space. We did buy into DVC and have not regretted it so far. The only regret is we did not buy enough points as we started out going every other year and now go every year so we bought more.

It still works out cheaper for us because we buy an annual pass and get two years trips out of it. Eat breakfast in our room and dine half disney, half out such as olive garden etc. we like having the choice and you have to stay in the moderates now to get the dining plan plus it is only good at certain times not always when you want to go.

Why not rent some points first , stay at a dvc resort ( our home is SSR ) and see what you think? It generally works out cheap to go to walmart , get cereal etc and drink and snacks. A couple of nice disney meals ( annual pass gets a discount anyway at some of them ) and the rest you can balance for your own budget.

Hth
 
We go DVC one year, then pay cash the next, this allows us to get the best of both worlds whilst the dining plan is on offer. We bought into AKV and don't regret a moment of it , we love it, would consider buying more points in the future.
 
RDP said:
We go DVC one year, then pay cash the next, this allows us to get the best of both worlds whilst the dining plan is on offer. We bought into AKV and don't regret a moment of it , we love it, would consider buying more points in the future.

Hi RDP. How are you today? Looking forward to the cruise :-). Where do you stay when you pay cash? Any tips for your fav?
 


Longer term have you found there are real savings once you take food into account?

Staying in a villa you have more options for food: many members, for example, order groceries to be delivered so they can eat in their villa. This can be a huge money saver.
Even if you don't want to cook while on vacation, you can order just food for breakfast (I prefere not to go to a restaurant for breakfast).
 
Hi RDP. How are you today? Looking forward to the cruise :-). Where do you stay when you pay cash? Any tips for your fav?

Hi Paula , when paying cash we have enjoyed the Swalpin and AKL, my fav is the GF. Staying at the BC this time for the first time, so will report back! Often the choice is limited by which hotel the DDP is being offered free at on the years we are paying cash. Looking forward to the cruise, will try and say hi!
 
RDP said:
Hi Paula , when paying cash we have enjoyed the Swalpin and AKL, my fav is the GF. Staying at the BC this time for the first time, so will report back! Often the choice is limited by which hotel the DDP is being offered free at on the years we are paying cash. Looking forward to the cruise, will try and say hi!

Thanks! Yes would love to say Hi. When are you flying out? We are flying from Gatwick on Friday with Virgin. Cant wait!
 


We are also a family of 5, personally I would rather have my 2 bedroom villa and cook than squeeze 5 into a hotel room and have free dining. We no longer have a lot of WDW restaurants that are must dos. We have a few we will always book and if we are not too cash strapped we have others we add but we have had many holidays where we just cooked our own food and it hasn't taken away from the quality of the holiday. A lot of the time my children prefer home cooked food.

The space in a 2 bedroom is wonderful for a family of 5 particularly if you stay at Kidani or BLT as it gives 3 bathrooms. We don't have to share with the kids and my daughter doesn't have to share with her brothers.

Free Dining is not guaranteed and in fact Disney has been talking about cutting back on it. it wasn't offered to the US market in January/February this year and hasn't yet for later in the year either.

DVC is a huge financial commitment agreed, for that reason we waited 15 years until we could really afford it and stayed offsite in the meantime, means we enjoy it all the more now. The only thing i will say is that 2 weeks every other year in a 2 bedroomed villa, thats a lot of points. We manage about 12 nights then make it up by staying a few nights at universal.
 
Hi
I have just signed in here today. I have looked at dvc 3 times now and still can't make my mind up. One option to do it is to join and uses magical express and disney transport and not bother with a car, but then I am stuck with disney food. You say people have deliveries to their dvc? Can you please advise further on this?
Many thanks
Alan
 
You are not exactly stuck with disney food. Taking a taxi to Publix and doing a weeks shopping would work out cheaper than hiring a car or eating Disney food. Do a grocery delivery. Also the crossroads shopping centre is walking distance from DTD and has plenty chain and local restaurants not at Disney prices. Personally DVC or not I wouldn't do WDW without a car but it can be done
 
Hi
I have just signed in here today. I have looked at dvc 3 times now and still can't make my mind up. One option to do it is to join and uses magical express and disney transport and not bother with a car, but then I am stuck with disney food. You say people have deliveries to their dvc? Can you please advise further on this?
Many thanks
Alan

Another option depending on length of stay is to get a rental car for some of the time of your vacation but not all. We don't pick up the car on the day we get in we get the ME and settle in. As we stay at SSR we can walk to DTD. Then when you get the car get your groceries and dine off Disney property such Olive garden etc or get take out. then give car back, do your Disney dining and get the ME back to airport. Cut costs and breaks up the Disney food choices. Just an option. I personally prefer the freedom of a rental car for at least some of the trip.
 
I've wanted to talk about this very subject. My wife & I enjoy coming to Disney, and I've been a shareholder for 20+ years. For the last few trips, we've always taken advantage of the free dining as our kick in the but to go.
We stayed in Caribbean Beach once in 2000 (our first trip, kind of a honeymoon) but have stayed in Value's ever since (6 times). I have a 3.5 year old daughter now, and we went in 2011, and expected it to be quite awhile before going, but we went last year as a family (9 of us). I've been pondering DVC, BUT, since we always stay in value (POP, as it's perfectly central to everything) and we don't use the pool, or eat in the room except a small breakfast. Despite my WANT to purchase DVC, I can't financially justify it when I can do a longer stay for less money, with free dining. I can't get contracts for $40 a point, which would make it a little easier to digest. Doing a trip 11 months apart to use an annual pass is another option that makes it work a little better (go 2x, skip year, repeat).
Are others in that boat, or have they been? My in-laws travel alot, so I was thinking of them usual Aulani as a fill-in, but.......pirate:
 
I've always been in values hotels and also enjoyed my offsite stay last year.
But during my last trip to WDW I've gone to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma and the beauty of the resort stunned me.
I was already lurking the DVC board and was aware of all pros and cons, but that visit finally made me buy it.
I would like to stay in that class of resort but I would never pay rack rates for them!

DVC saves money only if you always book deluxe resorts for your stays.
For me, comparing it with a Value, it's a matter of upgrading my accommodation paying just a bit more. It makes staying in AKL much more reasonable, and in fact I'll be there in September for my first stay as a DVC member! :yay:

But to make it work buy resale and don't finance.
 
We. Went through this deli a in 97. We bought and it has paid for it self over and over again. Because of high airfares and time restrictions on holidays we started going every other year and renting out the points we don't use. This covers all our dues for 2 years hence the accomadation when we do go is free.

We also mix it up. August 14 we are staying in RPR universal 4 nights, CBR 5 nights for free dining, and OKW for 11 nights. We then rent out any unused points.
 

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