Hi - Joining in to DVC

[OL60]

Hello to all

My family (Myself, wife, 5 year old son, and 2 year old son) have now taken the jump into DVC.

My wife and I have wanted to do it since we took our honeymoon there 8 years ago (June 13 will be 9 years). We have been to Disney World almost every year since (We took off the years my kids were born). My oldest has been 6 times now I think and my youngest 2 times...I can not keep it straight.

We bought into SSR (One of the few acronyms I am sure of here) for the referral price. Now have 175 points with an October use year start.

Wife has already planned out the next three years of stuff including a vacation already booked for June and a cruise/land combination for November. She is trying for three trips a year - luckily only a 12 hour drive.

And I think the signed paperwork will reach DVC today or maybe tomorrow...:D

[Disneyfreak]

:welcome: Congrats on your new era of enjoying the World!!!:cheerlead

We are from around the B'ham area & bought into SSR last summer.

Welcome to DVC & welcome to Mouseowners!:jumpingbe

[CptJacksPrincess]

Hi,

:welcome:

[idratherbeinwdw]

<snip>We bought into SSR (One of the few acronyms I am sure of here)

This thread should help:
http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4548

:welcome: to mouseowners, and congrats on buying into DVC! :handshake

[ghost1000]

Welcome aboard! Here's wishing you and your family many happy Disney vacations.

[athenna]

Welcome to Mouse Owners!:kickingco
You will enjoy your self here! A lot of friendly & knowledgeable people here. And you'll make lots of friends!:yes:
Congrats SSR Neighbor!

[mickeyndvcfan]

CONGRATULATIONS & WELCOME HOME!!!!


:bouncingm :boundumbo :welcome: :bouncegoo :bounfigme :welcome:

[aamove]

Congratulations and Welcome Home.:welcome: :welcome: :welcome:

[Steamboat Bill]

SSR was a wise purchase...just don't use your points for DCL...too expensive.

[OL60]

SSR was a wise purchase...just don't use your points for DCL...too expensive.

Why do you say too expensive? :confused:

[parrisk]

Wanted to say hello and welcome to DVC. My family and I just joined January 2, 2007 at SSR and we bought resale for BWV. We are also from Alabama, near Anniston. I have spent hours working out trip itineraries and calculating points. I want to do the cruise one day also, but pay cash for it. My husband and I don't think it is worth the points required. We have DVC friends in Montgomery who feel the same way. Of course, we are still learning about everything.:flowerfor

[tjkraz]

Why do you say too expensive? :confused:

If you get a quote on the cash price and divide it by the number of points required, you will most likely find that cruising on points only returns a value of $6-7 per point.

Example using ficticious numbers: $3000 cash price / 450 DVC points = $6.66 per point.

(EDIT: You can come up with your own numbers pretty easily by getting a quote from the Disney Cruise site and then checking the same itinerary on the DVC point charts. I've never seen a value greater than $7 per point.)

Since you are already paying over $4 per point in dues, you're really not saving much at all by using your points. Assuming you own at Saratoga Springs, those 450 points will cost you $1854 in dues (at $4.12 each).

If you bought the minimum of 150 points, you're using 3 years' worth for the cruise (about 7% of your total ownership), you paid around $14000 for the points to begin with, and you're only "saving" $1100 on the cruise.

Not a very good return on the investment. Points go much, much further when you use them at the DVC resorts.

And there are other factors to consider, too. DVC charges a flat fee of $75 to book a cruise and this fee is charged again if you ever have to make ANY changes to the booking. When points are put toward a cruise they become "reservation points" and inherit a whole new set of limitations. If you book a cruise on points and then have to cancel, you CANNOT use those points at a DVC resort. Reservation Points can only be used at non-DVC destinations like the Disney Collection (Disneyland, non-DVC resorts at Walt Disney World) or the Concierge Collection. Reservation Points also cannot be banked so you have to use the before the end of your Use Year or they are forfeit.

And let's not forget that the number of points needed to cruise goes up each year. On the surface this may seem like simple inflation, but you're already getting hit by inflation when your dues go up. Increasing the number of points for the cruise is a double-whammy.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the occasional cruise on points, but buying points with the intent of using them for cruises repeatedly is like throwing your money away. And if you have to finance the DVC purchase (adding thousands of dollars worth of interest), the numbers get even worse. I'd be willing to bet that you could put your investment money into an annuity with a solid rate of return, and drew from those funds to pay for cruises, you'd be better off in the long run than repeatedly using DVC points to cruise.

[dvcconvert]

Excellent analysis on that Tim! :)

[mushu]

Congrats!