Wow those room prices at WDW!!!

[jo-jo]

Of course, prior to staying DVC, we were offsite or All Stars. No way would I have splurged for the stays we have enjoyed with DVC.

We took the tour while staying at POP. I remember after a trip or two walking around AKL and thinking we'd never ever pay the several hundred a night while pop was still under hundred at the time.

 

[kgou]

We have a 5 night stay booked for early December '24 in a standard 1BD at VGF and the cash rate was $9k the last time I looked. Absolutely eye popping.

 

[Monykalyn]

Not DVC owners but another timeshare (gifted 25+ years ago with MF ~$800/year) traded into SSR for spring break next week for 1 bed villa. Friends were thinking of joining us for a night or two but cash price for our villa was like >$900/night when they looked! Do people actually pay those cash prices? We have another week we traded into OKW for early June for 1 bedroom, and will probably go for week before as well as I have free accommodation certificate and can get Sheraton Vistana villages 2 bedroom for $329.
Makes me wish waaay back when was DCP in 1991 and they offered cast member discount for the first Dvc. Was something like $50? Bucks a month? Too expensive tho for college kid

 

[MartyParty]

Yes the current Disney hotel pricing are mind blowing. I recall somewhere in the early 2000's while staying at a good neighborhood hotel near Disneyland how lovely the Grand Cali looked. I mentioned it to my wife that we should check in to the cost of staying there. I think it was something like $400 or $500 a night versus around the $120 or so we were spending at one of the cheap and cheerful local hotels. I thought no way were going to spend that kind of money.

Then we discovered and bought into DVC in 2016. Purchased 190 Poly points for just a little of $30k (still is a lot of money). I remember wondering if we were making the right choice. And on that note I have two stays since then (with banking and borrowing) that almost recoups our initial expense:

Prior BLT 3 bedroom stay for 6 nights costing about $15k if paying rack rates.
Upcoming Aulani 2 bedroom ocean view stay that would cost about $12k.

Those two trips alone (not counting other trips) gets us to almost the initial DVC purchase price. So, feeling pretty good about what we did many years on.

But there are always caveats:

• What if you'd invested the money and used the returns to fund your vacations?
• What about the total cost of ownership and the larger bucket of dues expenses?
• What if you'd stayed at a local yet less expensive hotel?

Lots of different ways to bottom out this discussion, but for us we feel fortunate and happy to have went the DVC route. Wished we'd have done it sooner. And worst case scenario, we could sell those points today and probably get 80-85% of our initial cost back (notice I didn't say investment).

So with the Disney hotel prices today, I'm glad to have my DVC points and avoid that cost when checking out. I do wonder in 5 to 10 years time what those prices will be and how folks will afford it. WDW studios for $600/nt? Disneyland studios for $1000/nt? Seems crazy but I think we'll see it in that time frame.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I remember that pre-DVC, in the late 90s, I was paying $79/night at POR (Dixie Landings then) and now it's $350! My very last stay before DVC was at AKL savannah view-$155/night then, and now-did I see over $700/night?

 

[LoveToDisney]

1990....I remember $65 per night at Carribean Beach...I thought it was too much.

I wanted to buy in at the very beginning of DVC in the 90s but the minimum pt purchase at the time was for 240pts. My DH fought me about buying DVC because the CBR was so reasonably priced at $99/nite. We finally bought in 2003 and we have never been sorry. Awesome price for great accommodations. We love the 1 and 2 bedroom villas.

 

[MartyParty]

I wanted to buy in at the very beginning of DVC in the 90s but the minimum pt purchase at the time was for 240pts. My DH fought me about buying DVC because the CBR was so reasonably priced at $99/nite. We finally bought in 2003 and we have never been sorry. Awesome price for great accommodations. We love the 1 and 2 bedroom villas.

I know!

I never fully bought into the industry time share pitch of prices forever going up and up. I knew in general hotel prices would increase I just didn’t realize how extreme the Disney hotel prices would out stripe usual brand hotel prices.

Anyways, you got a nice price in 2003.

 

[71 Truck]

I wanted to buy in at the very beginning of DVC in the 90s but the minimum pt purchase at the time was for 240pts. My DH fought me about buying DVC because the CBR was so reasonably priced at $99/nite. We finally bought in 2003 and we have never been sorry. Awesome price for great accommodations. We love the 1 and 2 bedroom villas.

We toured Old Key West back in January 1995. At the time we had just bought a house and the price for the minimum number of points (240 or 250 ) was more than we wanted to spend. Our guide told us if we came to Disney on a regular basis at some point we would be back to see him.

Fast forward to January 1997. We were staying at the Wilderness Lodge. The day before we were suppose to check out and drive to Key west we looked at the weather, it was suppose to rain there for the next few days so we decide to not to go and decided to tour DVC again to see what had changed, with no intention of buying.

When we met our guide he remembered us. We skipped most of the tour and I asked, what has changed.
He told us the big change was that the buy in was now only 150 points. At that time we figured what we had spent the last two years would have put a big dent in that price, we knew we were coming back at least every other year for the foreseeable future so we ended up buying 150 points. They also had some other incentives at the time. I don't remember all of them but I do remember one incentive was they were giving you the previous years points.
That worked in our favor because we decide not to go to Key West so we asked if we could use the points they gave us right then for a room At Old Key West for the next few days. He checked availability for us and said yes.
The nice part was they put us in a one bedroom and we were able to do all of our laundry before driving home.

He had offered us lunch at Olivia's as part of us buying however we had to get back to the wilderness lodge for some reason but we would take him up on the offer at another time. By the way he still owes us lunch.

 

[beccasmom]

We purchased our DVC membership in 1992 when the minimum points were 230. The cost was somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-$65/point. We paid cash, so no financing. Before the purchase we mostly did split stays between deluxe (usually CR) and a moderate (and once at FW).

I well remember staying at the GF in December 1988 and the rate was $150 a night (we only stayed there two nights). Once in a while (maybe once every 5 years), we may treat ourselves to 2 or 3 nights in a concierge room if we want to extend a stay without using points, but never without at least a pass holder discount. Even at that, the price is an eye-opener.

We have had zero regrets about our DVC membership.

 

[cheryl.UK]

The last time we paid for a night in a hotel in WDW was in 2006 and we stayed for 5 nights at the Poly. We got an AP discount and I think it was $220 per night, so $1100. I just looked it up now and without a discount, it was $3950 Even with the same 20% discount, that's $3160. WOW. There is no way we could afford that on top of the rest of our holiday in Florida. We often hit WDW for 3 weeks in different reports (see my signature) and then head off to somewhere else in the US. Three weeks, even in a moderate resort is $5760. Ouch! Factor in flights, tickets and food, that's £14K for 2 of us, before we set off to explore the US. NOT A CHANCE. I'm still in the same job but my wages would not stretch this far. in 2019 we hit WDW for 3 weeks staying in our DVC and then set off north for over 2 weeks, hitting NYC, Washington and 3 other stops, staying in some great hotels It cost us less than $9k.

 

[alohatok1986]

We only pay for cash rooms with our Disney Visa Rewards CC points, so it doesn't feel like "real" money and doesn't hurt as much- lol!

 

[keishashadow]

There’s usually a decent AP rate available at the values when we need a room the day before DVC checkin or just want to enjoy a spur of the moment get away for a few days. Nearly impossible to find a studio a few months out

I don’t know anyone who pays rack rate for their rooms @ WDW. However, we do very much appreciate being able to stay primarily in the villas!

 

[DVC Doctor]

I'm very familiar with WDW cash room prices because... I still book them. lol I only have so many DVC points and like to go more often. I'll be there this weekend at Port Orleans Riverside paying $260/nt.

I'm really tempted to get a nice sized resale contract for the sleep around points.

:insert Ariel I Want More gif here:

This is actually a good deal and assuming $18pp for DVC points, then the DVC equivalent price would be only about 15 points per night

 

[Cabius]

Incomes are also a lot higher on average than they were 20-30 years ago, which I have to remind myself when I imagine paying yesterday's prices with today's income.

At the same time, WDW hotel prices have increased well above incomes, and it's been a really good deal for those who bought in early! I think it's still a pretty good deal today (I bought in 2020) but those who purchased in the 90s sure made a good decision!

 

[Cfabar1]

I kind of look at it differently. We bought in 2022 our first contract, so we haven't gotten to see the prices go up over time, if anything the cash rates are more attractive. But it still feels like it is a good deal for us, and we are glad we bought DVC.

So, this summer for our week that we are going to VGF the cash would be about $3500 for a studio.

For us to use our DVC points, it will end up costing us about $2700 for a one bedroom. (this includes our initial cash outlay amortized over the life of the contract - not just the annual dues).

By the way, that cash amount was based on being able to use an AP discount offer of 35% off the cash rate -- and was one of the lower cash rates I have seen for VGF recently.

DVC is definitely a great way to save some money and stay in nicer accommodations than we could otherwise afford... A couple of other thoughts:

- You do lose a lot of flexibility by "tying up" so much money in WDW
- WDW is one of the least affordable vacations you can do as a family - especially if you want to enjoy the restaurants, buy some souvenirs, etc. It is kind of ridiculous actually how much money you can spend very quickly - especially as a family.
- I have never understood the investment approach of put the money in an account and pay for your trips with the proceeds - Let's say our points cost us $30,000 to buy in. Taking that amount of money and investing it, and taking out the SWR of 4% a year would mean you have a draw of $1200 a year. By the way, you would maybe have to pay some interest or capital gains taxes on the account as well - which further dilutes the value. Now, save the money and don't take vacations - that makes sense to me, but I am not willing to do that.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at Riviera last month, Feb 6 to 9. Preferred studio cash rate was over $900/night. Another eye opener - someone posted a picture of the ticket board at a park yesterday. 4 day park hopper $706. Love my DVC, including the Sorcerer pass.

 

[Cfabar1]

I stayed at Riviera last month, Feb 6 to 9. Preferred studio cash rate was over $900/night. Another eye opener - someone posted a picture of the ticket board at a park yesterday. 4 day park hopper $706. Love my DVC, including the Sorcerer pass.

Wow... We qualify for the Pirate Pass which is $799 (I feel like we paid a lower rate at the time it renewed last)... So basically 5 days in the parks annually and I'm "ahead" (until you think about all the money you spend on Food, Genie+, Mickey Mouse Key Chains, etc.)

 

[Miffy]

I don't have DVC but I do go to WDW at least twice a year. We never pay the cash rate for our room. There are always discounts and we always use them. AP discount, general public discount, and now, finally, the bounceback rate, which is really excellent.

However, I will say that we used to stay at AKL all the time. Now it's only for something special, since the price has gone up so much that even with a substantial discount we can't justify the cost. And to think they used to be begging people to stay there.

 

[jodifla]

I don't have DVC but I do go to WDW at least twice a year. We never pay the cash rate for our room. There are always discounts and we always use them. AP discount, general public discount, and now, finally, the bounceback rate, which is really excellent.

However, I will say that we used to stay at AKL all the time. Now it's only for something special, since the price has gone up so much that even with a substantial discount we can't justify the cost. And to think they used to be begging people to stay there.

So where do you stay, and how much do you consider a reasonable amount?

For us, it has just been so much easier for the past 28 years to just spend our points on our annual trips.

 

[Miffy]

So where do you stay, and how much do you consider a reasonable amount?

For us, it has just been so much easier for the past 28 years to just spend our points on our annual trips.

We usually stay at POFQ. Depending on the season and what discount we're using, it runs about $270/night (including tax, etc.).

For sure if I'd purchased DVC in the 1990s, I'd have much less expensive WDW vacations now, but I didn't have the cash at the time and now a DVC purchase isn't viable for me. Also, if I had purchased DVC in the '90s I might not still have it since I got divorced in 2010 (I'm remarried and happy, btw!).