DisneyFamAdventure
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2023
So we are considering buying CFW as first time buyers into DVC. I know, unpopular opinion right now considering the new "Trust" and the high maintenance dues of $12.15. The point charts are great but we still do not know what the price per point will be, I am guessing $225 ppp.
Reasons:
We love visiting Fort Wilderness, we enjoy "looping" in our golf cart, visiting the Tri-Circle D Ranch to say hello to the horses, seeing nature, being able to spread out, movie nights under the stars, taking a boat ride to MK, the list is endless with all of the activities offered at that resort that we literally take days off between visiting the parks to simply just enjoy the Fort.
In regards to the cabins, we enjoy the fact that our boys can just be kids, play and talk as loud as they want inside our cabin without worrying about bothering the next door neighbors because we don't share walls. We can step out in our porch and just enjoy our meals there under the trees. We have picky eaters so we tend to cook a few meals in our cabin. We don't mind not having a washer and dryer since we have used the commons area to do a load or two during our stay which is right next to the pool, so we can just enjoy some time at the pool whenever we do our laundry. Anyhow, my husband travels a lot for work and often stays in many hotels/resorts and he says that by far he feels the most comfortable and at peace when he stays in the Cabins in Fort Wilderness. We enjoy visiting the parks but the big crowds do drain us so we like taking a day off to just relax at the Fort between park visits. Our typical stay is usually Saturday through Thursday, so about 5 night stay.
I ran the comparisons using DVC Resale Market numbers for current Direct vs resale price per point plus dues (numbers obtained are as of Jan. 19th, 2024 they will change once the price increase for Direct sales happens 01/29/2024), total years remaining on the deed (or call it trust for CFW), for a stay in Oct. 12 to the 17th, 2024 staying at a 1 bedroom accross all the other DVC resorts as a hypothetical booking. Granted for the Poly there are only studios and not 1 bedrooms. Also, I tried using the standard 1 bedroom points, where applicable, for my comparison.
The end result for a 5 night stay in mid Oct of 2024, buying DIRECT is as follows:
Buying Resale (but only option buying direct for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness)
The catch is if we buy Direct at CFW, it will appear that our points, with the high dues, will only be beneficial to use ONLY for bookings at the CFW (granted we would have the 11 month booking advantage and it will be save us $$ in comparison to the other DVC properties but only buying direct. The exception would be buying resale at the other properties like AK and SS would be less and Poly studio but we do not wish to stay in a studio). This means that it will be unwise to book at any of the other resorts using CFW points for a room that is at least a 1 bedroom since the cost per point plus yearly dues per point will be way too much since all other DVC resorts will cost more points per night. In sum, the low point charts for CFW are great, the dues are too high, and even if we buy DIRECT WITHOUT any restrictions it will be unwise to use the CFW points at any other DVC resort other that the CFW home resort. I believe we are going to have to just wait for the first resale of a CFW contract, even with all the restrictions, since it appears that even if you buy CFW DIRECT it will cost too much to use CFW points at any other DVC property. Now, if the price per point is less than $180 after incentives then we might consider buying direct but I doubt it.
Reasons:
We love visiting Fort Wilderness, we enjoy "looping" in our golf cart, visiting the Tri-Circle D Ranch to say hello to the horses, seeing nature, being able to spread out, movie nights under the stars, taking a boat ride to MK, the list is endless with all of the activities offered at that resort that we literally take days off between visiting the parks to simply just enjoy the Fort.
In regards to the cabins, we enjoy the fact that our boys can just be kids, play and talk as loud as they want inside our cabin without worrying about bothering the next door neighbors because we don't share walls. We can step out in our porch and just enjoy our meals there under the trees. We have picky eaters so we tend to cook a few meals in our cabin. We don't mind not having a washer and dryer since we have used the commons area to do a load or two during our stay which is right next to the pool, so we can just enjoy some time at the pool whenever we do our laundry. Anyhow, my husband travels a lot for work and often stays in many hotels/resorts and he says that by far he feels the most comfortable and at peace when he stays in the Cabins in Fort Wilderness. We enjoy visiting the parks but the big crowds do drain us so we like taking a day off to just relax at the Fort between park visits. Our typical stay is usually Saturday through Thursday, so about 5 night stay.
I ran the comparisons using DVC Resale Market numbers for current Direct vs resale price per point plus dues (numbers obtained are as of Jan. 19th, 2024 they will change once the price increase for Direct sales happens 01/29/2024), total years remaining on the deed (or call it trust for CFW), for a stay in Oct. 12 to the 17th, 2024 staying at a 1 bedroom accross all the other DVC resorts as a hypothetical booking. Granted for the Poly there are only studios and not 1 bedrooms. Also, I tried using the standard 1 bedroom points, where applicable, for my comparison.
The end result for a 5 night stay in mid Oct of 2024, buying DIRECT is as follows:
| Buy Direc/Resale? | Resort | Price Per Point | Years Remaining in Deed | Cost per point | 2024 Dues | Cost pp +dues | Points needed for a 5 night stay | Cost per 5 night stay |
| Direct | Animal Kingdom | $210 | 33 | $6.36 | $9.08 | $15.44 | 148 | $2,285.66 |
| Direct | Aulani | $225 | 38 | $5.92 | $9.76 | $15.68 | 182 | $2,853.95 |
| Direct | Bay Lake Tower | $275 | 36 | $7.64 | $7.59 | $15.23 | 173 | $2,634.60 |
| Direct | Beach Club | $275 | 18 | $15.28 | $8.63 | $23.91 | 183 | $4,375.12 |
| Direct | Boardwalk | $240 | 18 | $13.33 | $8.67 | $22.00 | 145 | $3,190.48 |
| Direct | Boulder Ridge | $215 | 18 | $11.94 | $8.68 | $20.62 | 182 | $3,753.65 |
| Direct | Cabins at Fort Wilderness | $225 | 50 | $4.50 | $12.15 | $16.65 | 113 | $1,881.45 |
| Direct | Copper Creek | $250 | 44 | $5.68 | $8.09 | $13.77 | 182 | $2,506.47 |
| Direct | Disneyland Hotel | $230 | 50 | $4.60 | $9.53 | $14.13 | 206 | $2,910.78 |
| Direct | Grand Californian | $310 | 36 | $8.61 | $8.55 | $17.16 | 204 | $3,500.87 |
| Direct | Grand Floridian | $230 | 40 | $5.75 | $7.57 | $13.32 | 223 | $2,970.36 |
| Direct | Hilton Head | $165 | 18 | $9.17 | $11.31 | $20.48 | 152 | $3,112.45 |
| Direct | Old Key West | $205 | 18 | $11.39 | $9.87 | $21.26 | 146 | $3,103.80 |
| Direct | Old Key West – Ext | $205 | 33 | $6.21 | $9.87 | $16.08 | 146 | $2,347.99 |
| Direct | Polynesian (studio) | $250 | 42 | $5.95 | $8.23 | $14.18 | 130 | $1,843.71 |
| Direct | Riviera Resort | $225 | 46 | $4.89 | $8.85 | $13.74 | 206 | $2,830.71 |
| Direct | Saratoga Springs | $205 | 30 | $6.83 | $8.14 | $14.97 | 154 | $2,305.89 |
| Direct | Vero Beach | $150 | 18 | $8.33 | $13.86 | $22.19 | 113 | $2,507.85 |
Buying Resale (but only option buying direct for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness)
| Buy Direc/Resale? | Resort | Price Per Point | Years Remaining in Deed | Cost per point | 2024 Dues | Cost pp +dues | Point needed for a 5 night stay | Cost per 5 night stay |
| Resale | Animal Kingdom | $116 | 33 | $3.52 | $9.08 | $12.60 | 148 | $1,864.08 |
| Resale | Aulani | $106 | 38 | $2.79 | $9.76 | $12.55 | 182 | $2,284.00 |
| resale | Bay Lake Tower | $132 | 36 | $3.67 | $7.59 | $11.26 | 173 | $1,947.40 |
| resale | Beach Club | $136 | 18 | $7.56 | $8.63 | $16.19 | 183 | $2,961.96 |
| resale | Boardwalk | $123 | 18 | $6.83 | $8.67 | $15.50 | 145 | $2,247.98 |
| resale | Boulder Ridge | $111 | 18 | $6.17 | $8.68 | $14.85 | 182 | $2,702.09 |
| Direct | Cabins at Fort Wilderness | $225 | 50 | $4.50 | $12.15 | $16.65 | 113 | $1,881.45 |
| resale | Copper Creek | $146 | 44 | $3.32 | $8.09 | $11.41 | 182 | $2,076.29 |
| resale | Disneyland Hotel | $180 | 50 | $3.60 | $9.53 | $13.13 | 206 | $2,704.78 |
| resale | Grand Californian | $281 | 36 | $7.81 | $8.55 | $16.36 | 204 | $3,336.53 |
| resale | Grand Floridian | $163 | 40 | $4.08 | $7.57 | $11.65 | 223 | $2,596.84 |
| resale | Hilton Head | $66 | 18 | $3.67 | $11.31 | $14.98 | 152 | $2,276.45 |
| resale | Old Key West | $89 | 18 | $4.94 | $9.87 | $14.81 | 146 | $2,162.91 |
| resale | Old Key West – Ext | $115 | 33 | $3.48 | $9.87 | $13.35 | 146 | $1,949.81 |
| resale | Polynesian (studio) | $155 | 42 | $3.69 | $8.23 | $11.92 | 130 | $1,549.66 |
| resale | Riviera Resort | $117 | 46 | $2.54 | $8.85 | $11.39 | 206 | $2,347.06 |
| resale | Saratoga Springs | $106 | 30 | $3.53 | $8.14 | $11.67 | 154 | $1,797.69 |
| resale | Vero Beach | $58 | 18 | $3.22 | $13.86 | $17.08 | 113 | $1,930.29 |
The catch is if we buy Direct at CFW, it will appear that our points, with the high dues, will only be beneficial to use ONLY for bookings at the CFW (granted we would have the 11 month booking advantage and it will be save us $$ in comparison to the other DVC properties but only buying direct. The exception would be buying resale at the other properties like AK and SS would be less and Poly studio but we do not wish to stay in a studio). This means that it will be unwise to book at any of the other resorts using CFW points for a room that is at least a 1 bedroom since the cost per point plus yearly dues per point will be way too much since all other DVC resorts will cost more points per night. In sum, the low point charts for CFW are great, the dues are too high, and even if we buy DIRECT WITHOUT any restrictions it will be unwise to use the CFW points at any other DVC resort other that the CFW home resort. I believe we are going to have to just wait for the first resale of a CFW contract, even with all the restrictions, since it appears that even if you buy CFW DIRECT it will cost too much to use CFW points at any other DVC property. Now, if the price per point is less than $180 after incentives then we might consider buying direct but I doubt it.
lol. I am a numbers person and my husband is the one that goes by simply the "emotional value." I need to see the numbers to help US make a decision about purchasing.
