Why did you become a member?

[Simba1]

In one word (or sentence), why did you join DVC? My friend says that all DVC is is Disney's version of timeshare. I disagree!!!

In one word, I did purchase because of Disney. I love Disney. I trust Disney and my family will have the opportunity to enjoy Disney for the next 40+ years.

Oh...I guess that's TWO reasons.

Anyone else?
:D :bounce: :D

[DVC-Don]

I wanted a washer/dryer in our room.;) And I feel it is Disney's version of a timeshare. Some other timeshare's are getting into versions of points now.

[imgoingtodisney]

Because I am disney obsessed. And this took me over the edge to never return.

[Eck45]

I wanted to be able to take my family (wife & kids) and my extended family (parents, sisters, in-laws, nieces, nephews, etc) to a place that is fun, enjoyable, first class, warm, exciting, and a dream vacation come true.

As a kid my sisters and I always dreamed of going but we knew it was only that, a dream.

So now, everyone in my family will get to go multilple times. My wife and I think it is the best thing we have ever bought.

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by DVC-Don
I wanted a washer/dryer in our room.;) Actually, that was a biggy for me! We also needed more room than a hotel room, now that the 3 kids are getting older. And we're pretty sure we won't mind going to WDW for the next 40 years. :D

[Margie J]

I joined because I never wanted to lose money to a travel agent again.

I had lost about $1000 to a TA who went bankrupt days before a vacation, leaving me scrambling to re-schedule (and re-pay). I had been receiving info on the DVC for years before that and once I saw the place myself my mind was made up. Disney was unlikely to go out of business and their product was a good one. It allowed me to travel to many of the places I wanted to see in the future, plus go to WDW, without worry.

DVC gave me piece of mind.

[Lesley]

We like to visit WDW often...this makes it possible for us to have nice accomodations frequently. If we weren't part of DVC we would either be taking budget trips or skipping on it more often. With points and an AP, there's no reason not to go!

We also like the washer/dryer idea...can't wait. Our first trip home is in 18 days!

[dianeschlicht]

We joined to save money on our annual trips to WDW. Of course, we forgot we would probably travel more often then!:D

[dizneeluvr]

We love vacations there is no doubt about that. But there is something different about Disney...I feel like a kid again every time we go. I get teary-eyed when I see Minnie Mouse and when I see my kids start jumping from the moment we tell them we are going.
And at the risk of sounding Waltish...I can't help but feel that anything is possible when I'm there.

We love it, the kids love it and I'm sure that 20 plus years from now the grandkids will love it. I'm sure when the kids are off on their own that we'll be one of those ``without kids'' people at the character meals wanting autographs and pictures too!

Here's to the magic!
Laura

[Regina]

We joined because we love Disney, and, with 5 of us, the 2 bedroom units are a dream come true. Not being locked into a specific time of year also was a big selling point. (And those free passes for the first 9 years were very, very nice.:) )

[drusba]

We wanted (a) a deluxe resort right next to a park, and (b) something with at least two rooms and a refrigerator. Boardwalk's 1BR and 2BR units fit the ticket.

[Jimbo]

Because I wanted to take my grandkids to WDW, and when I looked at what it would cost to stay at a nice resort "on property," I got sticker shock! I was able to buy a resale, with park passes, for what would have been about 3.5 times the cost of that single vacation. Even though the airfare was part of the package I was looking at, it still made much more sense to be a DVC member than not.

Now we go every year, sometimes twice. And the grandkids tell me that I'm their favorite (of course, they probably say that to all of us :)).

[janiejo]

We joined because it made sense! We were going to Disney once every year to 18 months and we always stayed on property. We are a family of 5 so we need two rooms. We did the math - and DVC was a no brainer! Now we look forward to taking our family, their friends, and extended family for 40 more years!

[spiceycat]

When I first looked at DVC in 92 I almost brought then - I love Disney - however I got talked out of it - then in 93 I brought my brothers family twice - March and December - for what I paid for those trips I could have brought DVC - so when I got the letter (DVC had reduced the points requirement from 230 to 190) I brought it.

I have a niece and nephew who love Disney as much as I do - well she still does, he is now 13 and disney is old, universal is the new park for that age. My brother loves WDW more than I do, but with a family he would have a hard time getting there without my membership. It also allows them to vacation without me - when I was going to school and his kids were going to school - the schedule were never the same - so we had separate vacation still at WDW with DVC.

I have had several wonderful years of vacations. W/o DVC would I go to WDW three a year - no - but I would be going twice a year and with DVC I save money. I also like the refrigerator in the room. the Disney transportation is also a big selling point. there are other (lots of other) timeshares in Orlando - why Disney - because DVC is Disney - it is magic.

[ZerasPride]

Our reason(s) for joining have pretty much been summed up by everyone posting before me (especially imgoingtodisney's comments, that me exactly).

Another reason for joining for my family is that even though there are three of us DH and I need our privacy! We stayed at the Poly last May and had a good time but I didn't feel like I could truly relax and neither did my husband. We stayed at Hilton Head in a 2 bedroom unit two weeks ago and were blown away by not only the spacious accommodations but the separate sleeping quarters.

One more thought: Usually (and I know this is bad) we'd charge our hotel stays and take forever to pay the credit card bills off. Now I have a monthly payment and don't have to worry about the credit card bills! That is a big plus in my book. I am looking forward to my first DVC stay in either November or December 2002!!!

Lisa

[downontheBW]

The reason I wanted to become a member is so that I'd be assured that we will always be going back to WDW; if we own there we have to go back, right? :D :D :D

But the more practical reason we joined is because it makes staying at a Disney property cost-effective. Once I started thinging about DVC, I did look at other timeshares. We chose DVC because: 1) it's Disney 2) Disney is quality 3) we wanted flexibility - not tied down to 7 days or one property.

I'm positive we made the right decision with DVC!

[GrammieMame]

Because when I took my grandchildren for the first time, we had more fun than I had ever had in my life. Wanted to make it available not only to them but to their children.

[Granny]

We knew we wanted to visit WDW a lot + we knew we wanted to stay on-site + we knew we would stay at deluxe resorts = DVC ownership (with better accommodations than any deluxe resort).

[sgtpet]

Because my wife and I love WDW and with our first child we realized we will be visiting many times during his childhood and hopefully with future children. In addition it will give us opportunities to do other vacations in the future that we might not have thought of doing.

[ncligs]

We joined in 99, for...1.Memories 2.Accomodations 3. Flexability on stays and length of them 4. Bring family and friends 5. The availabilty of 5 DVC Resorts and the exchanges:D

[Dizzy4Dizney]

Flexibility. When I tell people how DVC works, they are stunned we don't have "certain weeks" to use it. DVC is very flexible.

[one_cat]

Because we wanted to go back to WDW over and over and stay on site and would never have been able to do that without DVC.

There are so many other reasons that we didn't even know about before we signed our names.

DVC is Disney's version of a Timeshare and they do it better than anyone else.

[Candace]

I joined in '94 because I love to travel, and my husband doesn't. We have two boys, and I felt that Disney is somewhere I could travel with them and feel pretty safe, always have accomodations that would be kept well, always have plenty to keep them busy but have things I would enjoy as well. The flexibility of the program (points, different size rooms) made it even more attractive. I have stayed in all sizes and at all the resorts, and I still love my DVC! My husband has been down only twice with us, (I didn't tell him about the purchase for 5 years LOL!), and he is very impressed by the accomodations.

[TrudyZ]

Let me preface this by saying that our first trip EVER as a family to WDW was spring 2001 (my husband had never been there before and my last visit was when MK was the only park!). We are also by no means "Disney nuts".

We bought, because when asked the question at the airport as we went down the jetway, "when do you want to come back to Disney?" my 2 year old daughter (with tears welling up in her eyes and her bottom lip quivering") simply stated, "at 3 o' clock".

We purchased a resale at OKW the following week, and go to our "Disney Home" twice a year. (okay, so she does have her dad wrapped around her little finger...;) )

Seriously, it is a place where there are activities we can all do together (and more activities as she gets older); it is clean; safe; and, for just one week twice a year, the worries of the world and the stresses of everyday life are kept outside the gates and we can concentrate on being a family.

Trudy

[WiseGirl]

We loved BWV the minute we saw it and we really like the flexibility of DVC points - no set timeshare weeks! We bought DVC to be able to bring family and friends along to a warm, beautifully landscaped and well-maintained resort. And to use our points for the Concierge, DCL and II. That was before I found these boards and found out that we're not supposed to do that (but we still do - lol!) :D

[raidermatt]

Why did we join?

To make vacations to on-site resorts at WDW more affordable. This allows us to go more often, and also afford trips to other locations, like Hawaii. :D

[RickW]

We joined for all of the special discounts, perks, pool hopping, and to become "florida residents" so we could get those discounts as well. ;)

Seriously, we joined for the following reasons:
1. We were averaging a trip to WDW about once every 1.5 years.
2. We hardly ever vacation in exact 1-week blocks.
3. We liked staying "on property" when we went to WDW.
4. We are currently DINKs who will someday probably be SI2Ks and by "prepaying" for our vacations now, it will mean that we can take more vacations when we have less income.

[iluvdisney]

That's easy - because we luv to visit WDW!

[sumessefui]

Because we were goinganyway and like deluxe acommidations, which kept inceasing greatly in price. Now we have a deluxe condo at a locked in price. (I know there are dues.)

[AnnaS]

We all love Disney!. Age makes no difference. You can never get bored. There is always something new. There is something for everyone. Staying on-site makes you feel like you actually belong and are part of WDW. We have stayed on-site and off-site (more off-site) and when we were off-site, we felt like we were just passing by. Now with DVC there will not be much of off-site - except to save points, maybe.

[vacationman]

I hope this does not sound too bad, but one of my main objectives in buying into DVC was to trick my wife into vacationing more than we would if we were not DVC members. I love to plan vacations way in advance (to make sure they happen) and my motto is "You can never have too many vacations". My wife, on the other hand, would be happy with one vacation per year but is extremely frugal. I rely on that frugality to ensure that we never waste a point and that we get the most out of our annual pass. As a result, by being DVC members, we are now planning our 4 th trip during our annual pass year! Hate me if you want, but it works and everyone in my family (including my wife) loves our DVC vacations.

Of course, I love Disney, the low-hassle factor in dealing with Disney, warm weather, and the ocean. Also, while many can debate the cost factor, my investment in DVC has out performed each of my mutual funds since I bought in 18 months ago. As a result, DVC has been a perfect fit.

[StephenKay]

At 35,I bought into DVC to share the magic with my young children and hopefully my grandchildren,It's just the best way to see the best place on earth,never has one place seen so many smiles.

Stevie Kay
Scotland

[adamak]

I bought DVC because I want to afford a free trip for my family / extended family in Disney, in a delux resort.

Nothing beats this pre-paid vacation plan. Plus, it's 40 years or Disney!