How do people afford to stay at the Disney hotels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought a Disney timeshare 30 years ago to hedge against inflation.

So we pay about $ 150 a night for $800 hotel rooms at places like the Grand Floridian, Beach Club Villas and the Polynesian.

It has worked well for us.

The maintenance fees are a beast.

NP. No... we pay about $5 per point. So less than $1500 per year.

Nobody in 2024 paid less than $7.92 a point in fees and 2026 will be more. It takes 120-234 points for a week in a resort view studio at GF. So the maintenance fees on those points would be $950-$1850/year.

To buy 120 GF points today would cost $22,200 plus any interest if financed.

The OP asked how people can afford it. We are just responding to the question.

Many of us who bought DVC decades ago realized Disney prices were marching up. So buying in let's us access accommodations that would not be in our reach otherwise.

We plan to retire next year. Our monthly dues of $175 a month are budgeted in.

And we will be in those $750 rooms several times a year on our Social Security plus a small pensions!

Ahh, decades ago. Most of us in this board were in grade school decades ago. Leave it to a Boomer to come in and crow; screw you, I got mine!

Leave it to a whiny millennial to blame boomers.

DP
It's true though.

[Anonymous]

The trick for us was buying DVC before we had kids. It was all paid off when kids were born and affordable because we didn't go crazy with points.

[Anonymous]

The trick for us was buying DVC before we had kids. It was all paid off when kids were born and affordable because we didn't go crazy with points.

We are always shocked when we go to hotels and are paying 200 bucks for a nothing room. DVC has spoiled us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a friendly reminder that you do not need to buy DVC to do Disney affordably. We love Disney, but I just can’t get the DVC math to work for us. Or the lack of flexibility to book last minute.

I’m happy to take whatever hotel Disney is offering on sale and keep the flexibility to spend my travel dollars on something else. But kudos to the Boomers who bought 30 years ago and can plan their years around Disney trips!

Gen X in same boat. I need more flexibility. But I also think that if those Boomers had invested same amount in stock market, the net return would be higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a friendly reminder that you do not need to buy DVC to do Disney affordably. We love Disney, but I just can’t get the DVC math to work for us. Or the lack of flexibility to book last minute.

I’m happy to take whatever hotel Disney is offering on sale and keep the flexibility to spend my travel dollars on something else. But kudos to the Boomers who bought 30 years ago and can plan their years around Disney trips!

Gen X in same boat. I need more flexibility. But I also think that if those Boomers had invested same amount in stock market, the net return would be higher.

Why are you comparing it to the stock market? That's idiotic.

It's a prepaid vacation.

If the money is sitting in the stock market you aren't going on vacations with it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The trick for us was buying DVC before we had kids. It was all paid off when kids were born and affordable because we didn't go crazy with points.

I can't imagine being trashy enough to buy a timeshare at Disney; especially not before kids.

[Anonymous]

You ever wonder why so many people are angry and stressed at Disney? A lot of people save for years, think for what they are paying everything should be perfect and have unrealistic expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought a Disney timeshare 30 years ago to hedge against inflation.

So we pay about $ 150 a night for $800 hotel rooms at places like the Grand Floridian, Beach Club Villas and the Polynesian.

It has worked well for us.

The maintenance fees are a beast.

NP. No... we pay about $5 per point. So less than $1500 per year.

Nobody in 2024 paid less than $7.92 a point in fees and 2026 will be more. It takes 120-234 points for a week in a resort view studio at GF. So the maintenance fees on those points would be $950-$1850/year.

To buy 120 GF points today would cost $22,200 plus any interest if financed.

The OP asked how people can afford it. We are just responding to the question.

Many of us who bought DVC decades ago realized Disney prices were marching up. So buying in let's us access accommodations that would not be in our reach otherwise.

We plan to retire next year. Our monthly dues of $175 a month are budgeted in.

And we will be in those $750 rooms several times a year on our Social Security plus a small pensions!

Ahh, decades ago. Most of us in this board were in grade school decades ago. Leave it to a Boomer to come in and crow; screw you, I got mine!

Leave it to a whiny millennial to blame boomers.

Yep…such whiners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a friendly reminder that you do not need to buy DVC to do Disney affordably. We love Disney, but I just can’t get the DVC math to work for us. Or the lack of flexibility to book last minute.

I’m happy to take whatever hotel Disney is offering on sale and keep the flexibility to spend my travel dollars on something else. But kudos to the Boomers who bought 30 years ago and can plan their years around Disney trips!

Gen X in same boat. I need more flexibility. But I also think that if those Boomers had invested same amount in stock market, the net return would be higher.

Why are you comparing it to the stock market? That's idiotic.

It's a prepaid vacation.

If the money is sitting in the stock market you aren't going on vacations with it

I understand that. But here’s the question. If you took X dollars (the buy in fee) and invested it in year Y (buy in year), but each year subtracted the amount you would spend on the lodging for an equivalent vacation (minus the annual maintenance fees, would you be ahead or behind? I don’t know the answer to that question but the stock market has outpaced inflation over those years so I’m a little suspicious that the Boomer DVC buyer actually would come out ahead. But it might be close and then the question is how you value the psychic value of not stressing about the annual vacation cost against the psychic and other value of having more flexibility with your vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a friendly reminder that you do not need to buy DVC to do Disney affordably. We love Disney, but I just can’t get the DVC math to work for us. Or the lack of flexibility to book last minute.

I’m happy to take whatever hotel Disney is offering on sale and keep the flexibility to spend my travel dollars on something else. But kudos to the Boomers who bought 30 years ago and can plan their years around Disney trips!

Gen X in same boat. I need more flexibility. But I also think that if those Boomers had invested same amount in stock market, the net return would be higher.

Why are you comparing it to the stock market? That's idiotic.

It's a prepaid vacation.

If the money is sitting in the stock market you aren't going on vacations with it

I understand that. But here’s the question. If you took X dollars (the buy in fee) and invested it in year Y (buy in year), but each year subtracted the amount you would spend on the lodging for an equivalent vacation (minus the annual maintenance fees, would you be ahead or behind? I don’t know the answer to that question but the stock market has outpaced inflation over those years so I’m a little suspicious that the Boomer DVC buyer actually would come out ahead. But it might be close and then the question is how you value the psychic value of not stressing about the annual vacation cost against the psychic and other value of having more flexibility with your vacations.

This is a lot of it. Some people prefer to do the same vacation every year, which I can understand, though it’s not my preference . They pay over 10,000 in maintenance fees for a beach condo on top of regular expenses (appliances etc) they probably could have taken some incredible trips or invested that money over the decades but that’s not how they like to travel. I do enjoy Disney and would go more often if time and money didn’t limit our other vacations.

[Anonymous]

I can’t with all these people in the weeds on DVC.

OP’s premise is false there are tons of ways to go to Disney and stay on property for way less than 1k a night lodging!

All stars are always good but I got a great deal at Caribbean beach resort a few years ago.

If you see nothing but 1k options it’s because you’re trying to book like, this week last minute or you only want to stay at the grand Floridian or something.

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen rates much cheaper than $1k but the Disney hotels always seem overpriced to me. We have gone a few times but have stayed in Disney Springs or a timeshare. Lots of the other parents at my kids school stay on site though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought a Disney timeshare 30 years ago to hedge against inflation.

So we pay about $ 150 a night for $800 hotel rooms at places like the Grand Floridian, Beach Club Villas and the Polynesian.

It has worked well for us.

The maintenance fees are a beast.

NP. No... we pay about $5 per point. So less than $1500 per year.

Nobody in 2024 paid less than $7.92 a point in fees and 2026 will be more. It takes 120-234 points for a week in a resort view studio at GF. So the maintenance fees on those points would be $950-$1850/year.

To buy 120 GF points today would cost $22,200 plus any interest if financed.

The OP asked how people can afford it. We are just responding to the question.

Many of us who bought DVC decades ago realized Disney prices were marching up. So buying in let's us access accommodations that would not be in our reach otherwise.

We plan to retire next year. Our monthly dues of $175 a month are budgeted in.

And we will be in those $750 rooms several times a year on our Social Security plus a small pensions!

Ahh, decades ago. Most of us in this board were in grade school decades ago. Leave it to a Boomer to come in and crow; screw you, I got mine!

Leave it to a whiny millennial to blame boomers.

Yep…such whiners.

DP. It isn’t whining it’s just pointing out that saying you should have bought something decades ago isn’t helpful. It’s like asking how do people afford to buy homes in the DMV and they saying well I bought my house in 1985 as a GS-9 so you should be able to as well!

[Anonymous]

We have a room booked at Caribbean Beach Resort this week (which is a fairly busy time) for like $375/night. It’s a moderate resort with pool, restaurants, etc. near the Skyliner. You definitely don’t need to drop 1k/night. Also, we used a Disney travel agent who booked us a package (they can apply discounts that come up after the fact so sometimes we’ve saved a good bit of money). This year DH and I both got bonuses that cover much of this trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen rates much cheaper than $1k but the Disney hotels always seem overpriced to me. We have gone a few times but have stayed in Disney Springs or a timeshare. Lots of the other parents at my kids school stay on site though.

There are so many hotels in Orlando that are inexpensive. Disney hotels are pricey compared to those but not compared to other resorts that provide extensive pools, food, transportation