Purchased before visiting

[discott71]

Just wondering how many of you have purchased DVC before actually visiting the resort of your choice. We just bought in to AKV and I'm soooooooo excited! However, there is a part of me that's a little nervous since I've never been there. Our 1st trip home is this May - 1 BDR in Kidani. I was hoping for a Sav. View, but didn't get :sad1: We're on the waitlist - hopefully it will come through!

[disneybride96]

:banana: We bought SSR sight unseen. Actually, I guess we did see it from a bus view riding to Downtown Disney but that doesn't really count. We also just added on at BLT and it isn't even done! :laughing:

If you enjoy any Disney resort, you really can't go wrong. Good luck on the wait list!

[jdb1232]

We bought at the VWL. We have stayed in the WL many times, but not in any DVC room. Our first is this November.

[discott71]

So, I take you have no regrets :)

Believe it or not, we've only been there once and stayed off-site. We loved it so much though and cannot wait to go back! We are a family of 5 with children ages 9, 6, and 4. I feel that this will give us confortable accomadations and price control on future vacations (@ least from a room perspective).

[disney0210]

We bought AKV sight unseen and this past October, we made our very first trip home. It was love at first sight :lovestruc . My sis-in-law says the lobby is a bit dark for her, but I actually find it very elegant. Even the restaurants on site are amazing. I am sure you'll love your new home... Enjoy your upcoming trip!

[discott71]

We bought AKV sight unseen and this past October, we made our very first trip home. It was love at first sight :lovestruc . My sis-in-law says the lobby is a bit dark for her, but I actually find it very elegant. Even the restaurants on site are amazing. I am sure you'll love your new home... Enjoy your upcoming trip!

Thank you...I can't wait...my husband thinks it looks a little dark too, but I'm hoping the pictures don't do it any justice. I'm so glad you loved it!

[jpeka65844]

We bought at VWL, sight unseen. We'd seen pictures and even the Great Hotels episode on the Travel Channel about it. We'd only visited WDW ONCE before we bought in.

Our first pick was BWV, which we had visited, but at the time we wanted to purchase, it was unavailable.

But one look at that WL lobby and we knew we made the right choice. Oh yeah, and BWV has since become available and we bought in there last month....:love: It's such a sickness, isn't it? If you had the gut feeling to buy in at AKV in the first place, then it's probably the right place for you!

[discott71]

Honestly, for myself, I woluld love any place in Disney, but out of the available resorts, this one seems most in line with what my kids enjoy. Including that new Kidani pool :)

We've never stayed at the Boardwalk...my husband really wants to. Is it hard to get in there in August?

[ccigliano]

I bought a resale at OKW sight unseen in 1999:goodvibes . I have since sold it and bought a resale at the WLV which I has stayed at several times with my OKW points. Once I stayed at the WL I just fell in love:lovestruc and had to stay there every trip. So once the WLV were sold out it became difficult to get ressies 7 months out for an early December stay, I sold OKW to purchase WLV. My advice is just stay at the AKV for every trip and you'll never be tempted:laughing: . If that's not an option, definitely avoid the WLV.

[discott71]

I bought a resale at OKW sight unseen in 1999:goodvibes . I have since sold it and bought a resale at the WLV which I has stayed at several times with my OKW points. Once I stayed at the WL I just fell in love:lovestruc and had to stay there every trip. So once the WLV were sold out it became difficult to get ressies 7 months out for an early December stay, I sold OKW to purchase WLV. My advice is just stay at the AKV for every trip and you'll never be tempted:laughing: . If that's not an option, definitely avoid the WLV.

That's too funny....where in upstate NY? I'm from Rochester, NY

[RCDisneyFan]

We bought AKV sight unseen and LOVE it. Of course, we looove Animal Kingdom and animals...so it was a no-brainer for us!

[Buckeye Fan]

Just wondering how many of you have purchased DVC before actually visiting the resort of your choice. We just bought in to AKV and I'm soooooooo excited! However, there is a part of me that's a little nervous since I've never been there. Our 1st trip home is this May - 1 BDR in Kidani. I was hoping for a Sav. View, but didn't get :sad1: We're on the waitlist - hopefully it will come through!

party: :welcome: HOME!!! party:

Yes, we purchased Vero Beach last year (April), sight unseen. Our first stay will be this summer, and like you, I'm really excited. We're actually staying at your home resort during spring break in a value 1-BR. I think it's going to be amazing, and I'm sure you will LOVE it! :goodvibes

[kaffinito]

I was originally going to buy into AKV since I have stayed there and loved it! :goodvibes I'm taking my DH there for his first WDW trip in 51 days (yeah!) because it's the most perfect resort for his first trip. Those AKV studios are really nice and very comfortable.

But then I started thinking about BLT, and ended up buying that even though I have never stayed in the MK resort area. I just really liked the looks of the rooms in the photos, and so I went ahead and bought it even though it will cost us more points. I can hardly wait to book it and wish I could go there right now!

Hope you have a magical trip! pixiedust:

[bobbiwoz]

We also bought into DVC sight unseen, both BWV, and VWL. Then we stayed there and have been very very pleased with our purchases. Then we stayed at BWV, VB and bought there because they had to be part of our vacation planning destinations. We also bought AKV, not sure what category that falls in, because we had stayed at Jambo and that's where are points are!

We do love our DVC points, and sharing vacations with extended family.

Bobbi:goodvibes

[BostonDisneyKid]

We purchased 370 points at OKW sight unseen. We got a good deal on a loaded resale contract back in 2003. No regrets what so ever, other than not having bought sooner.

[culli]

We bought sight unseen and actually didn't even know they existed when we went to Disney. I saw the booths but didn't give them any attention. Then a friend told me about it and I was going to rent from them. I started to research the whole DVC thing and figured it was for me. Well since then I learned how great Timeshares can be if you are smart about it. I now own almost 500 DVC pts, 2 other timeshare units for trading, and wyndham points. Couldn't be happier.............well I wish DVC was cheaper but hey if you want to stay at the Mouse's house hard to do it cheaper. I know you can trade in (and we do!!!) but we have to plan ahead of time and can't count on the trades being there, it is a bonus if we can trade in we just don't count on it.

Now I just need to get lots more vacation time!!!

[icouldlivethere]

We bought at BWV sight unseen and made our first trip "home" last month and just loved it!! :cloud9: It was the perfect choice for us!:thumbsup2 Lots to do, close enough to Epcot and HS to walk to or take a leisurely boat ride to, ability to save points on SV studios. We loved everything about it!!

[discott71]

:banana: Thank you so much everyone - I feel much better. Words cannot express how excited I am :woohoo:!

[wildernessDad]

We stayed at WL and then bought at VWL.

We bought at AKV without staying there, but we knew it would be right for us.

[kerickson]

We bought SSR and have never been to WDW! (my husband has when he was younger, but I've never been) Had to cancel our 1st trip home this month, so now I have to wait until Oct! Heading to DLR a few time in the mean time...
We'll also be buying VGC sight unseen. We've stayed at the hotel, but our 1st trip since the models have been open won't be until May, and we will be purchasing as part of the Founding Members program Jan 25-May 25...

[december14disney]

We bought into AKV...only exposure to AKL has been eating at Boma and Jiko numerous times. For some reason we rationalized buying into DVC but never rationalized paying 400 bucks a night for a Savanna view AKL room :rotfl2:

Either way. Im obsessed with the lodge. Its gorgeous in my opinion. When people say its too dark...I look at it as romantic and elegant. It would not make sense for it to be bright and and sunny and open. Its more "rustic"

I also hate when people say "how far" it is from everything. Seriosuly you can get to anywhere in like 15 minutes. Its funny how 15-20 minutes becomes "far" in Disneyworld but people drive like an hour in traffic to and from work every day :rotfl:

[mamaprincess]

We bought SSR when it was in development and all Disney had to show were artist renderings. We hadn't even been to WDW yet, let alone seen a DVC but we fell absolutely in love with the vacation DVD and knew it would be our family vacation for life. When we first went "home", SSR only had Congress Park built. The view was insane. It felt so completely magical. I can't explain the feeling of staying there the first time knowing we had made this amazing investment and it would be a part of our lives for years to come. Seeing WDW for the first time is incredible. We all fell completely in love with both SSR and WDW. It was so nice to have the right size accomodations and all the conveniences of home especially since we are a family of 5 with a baby at the time.:wizard:

[keishashadow]

We bought both WL & BW unseen, figured nothing could be worse than the values over President day weekend;)

did do the research here (mostly) as to stategies & im happy

Conversely, we did stay @ the AKV last fall as a 'recon' mission & fell in :love: ...were torn between adding on there & BLT; however, the economy convinced us to hold onto our nest egg a little tighter:confused3

[BWV Dreamin]

Boardwalk, saw resort first. Vero Beach, site unseen. I really wanted a beach resort, so this one was a no brainer. :goodvibes

[disneynutz]

You will find that many members buy sight unseen and most will say that they love anything Disney.
You will also notice that a couple of years later they also buy somewhere else.

I always advise prospective buyers to rent first, decide which resort they love the best, then buy.

For some reason, people will spend 15 to 20 thousand dollars buying sight unseen just because it's Disney and they let their emotions get the better of them. That's not the way I roll. :moped:

[Meishanoel]

I purchased unseen last Dec 07 and stayed this past September in a Savannah View 2BR villa. It was wonderful. I was confident that I would be happy with this DVC property. How could I not? My son is 5 and loves animals.

[Fatalbie]

I bought SSR sight unseen. I had rented points for a trip and after doing some research put a deposit on a contract. This allowed us a try before you buy, and locked in the F&F promotion at 86/pt. At the time the prices were going up and you couldnt get a better deal on ssr at relase because through disney the contract was loaded with prior year points and no mf for the first year.
At the time there was some very harsh resort bashing going on and ssr was getting abused. I was nervous, but figure if I hated it I cancelled. I love SSR!! Three stays later I have also stayed at OKW and loved it ther too. I will eventually try the others, but really love it at SSR
Jim

[BWV Dreamin]

You will find that many members buy sight unseen and most will say that they love anything Disney.
You will also notice that a couple of years later they also buy somewhere else.

I always advise prospective buyers to rent first, decide which resort they love the best, then buy.

For some reason, people will spend 15 to 20 thousand dollars buying sight unseen just because it's Disney and they let their emotions get the better of them. That's not the way I roll. :moped:


Funny! Yes, after we rented at BWI, we knew. I purchased a very small contract at VB, knowing I really wanted a beachfront resort. This was not as important (my inital investment was very, very small). I won't however, purchase anything again without first staying at the property. So far, I have been happy with my purchases. I feel very bad for those who bought site unseen, and are not happy. :wizard:

[thesupersmartguy]

We bought at OKW sight unseen. Went down in Dec and saw it for the first time. Glad we liked it.

[Golden Rose]

We knew we loved the Epcot resort area - we'd been staying in it since we "discovered" it staying there for a conference almost 20 years ago. We go to WDW fairly often and we always stay deluxe, so we knew we wanted to buy DVC. We had never stayed at a DVC resort, but because of location alone, we knew we wanted either BCV or BWV. (We had stayed in both BC and BW and liked them both.)

We ended up buying AKV first... We'd never stayed there, but we love to eat at Jiko, we love the theming, and our DS turns out to be a huge animal fan. We are also big fans of Club level, so the fact that AKV had that as an option (even a hard to get option) was a plus. We're really looking forward to those Savannah View rooms, and we will probably try for the occasional Concierge room once DS is a little older and not so totally focused on animals.

We then almost immediately bought BWV resale. So, yes, in a way we bought two contracts site unseen, but we'd been considering DVC for more than a year before we took the double plunge. We have seriously thought about adding on at BLT, but it just doesn't make sense for us this year. We got developer points when we bought AKV and our BWV contract was fully loaded with current and banked points, so we have more points than we can really use this year. More than half of this year's points will end up banked into next year, so we probably shouldn't buy any more points until late next year.

We are almost certainly going to buy Ko Olina points sight unseen, as well. If it ends up not getting built for some reason, we'll probably pick up a different Hawaiian timeshare. We love Hawaii, and we love that with DVC we would be able to use our points easily at WDW if we decide that we don't want to go to Hawaii some third year. (Our current plan is to get enough points for a two bedroom villa, ocean view, for a week every three years in whatever season we decide most appeals to us.)

I'm not the type of person who generally makes big decisions quickly or emotionally, and we thought about buying DVC for more than a year before we bought. We knew we liked the resorts we bought in, even if we hadn't rented points to stay in them. We also didn't just buy them for the look and feel of the rooms; we bought AKV for the animals and we bought BWV for the location. We aren't buying BLT unseen, but we're hoping to at least tour a model while we're there. I'm really tempted by the location, but not the decor( at least in pictures).

[BeccaG]

Bought SSR without seeing the actual location from CA. However they did have a model of the rooms in Anaheim and we knew about the location of SSR from aprevious trip from WDW, and had done the DVC tour on our honeymoon five years earlier when I think they were selling BWV. No regrets and happy to have the additional years

[Disney MAINEiac]

We bought sight unseen. had never even toured any of the resorts or even stayed in an official disney hotel. we had been twice once off site and once in a DTD hotel (Grosvenor at the time). Just knew we wanted to vacation at disney for a very long time to come and made a promise to ourselves that if we could ever afford it we would buy in. As luck would have it the year we could swing it SSR was in presale and we jumped. (the extra 12 years helped us to decide on SSR)

[starbox]

We bought SSR having seen only a very partially-completed resort and added on at AKV sight unseen.

No regrets whatsoever. We've stayed at all the resorts now, and based on the Dream book pictures only, the two resorts that looked the "best" to me in the book are actually my least favorites in real life - and places I probably won't return to.

I loved AKV as soon as I stayed there, and we were happy SSR owners before the announcement of the treehouses - now we are ecstatic. Those treehouses are my ultimate Disney fantasy. I'd atually trade my AKV points for SSR points now, as I've had no trouble reserving AKV at 7-months and I'd rather have more points availiable to secure more treehouse stays - with so many SSR owners, I don't think it will be possible to get them at 7 months.

:thumbsup2

[jgazda]

My husband bought into DVC having never even been to Disney World! I had been many times and he said my eyes lit up every time I talked about it so it had to be good. Took him "home" in November and now he wants to double our contract. BTW we own at AKL and are very pleased with our choice.

[CocosMeme]

We also bought, sight unseen, October of '07. DH and I are the parents of 3 and grandparents of 6. We went to Disney for my nephews wedding and all 14 of us were there for 5 days (DH and I stayed an extra 2). We had so much fun! We went on the DVC visit just to see what it was all about and were hooked. After spending such fun, quality time with our family we just couldn't resist. We bought at Animal Kingdom and took our first visit in May of '08. We took our college son for a week in early May right after he finished exams. It was a perfect time to visit. LOW crowds and savannah view room was fabulous. We took the Viva Italia tour from ABD in September with points for our 40th wedding anniversary. It was a trip of a lifetime!! Disney just knows how to do travel. We are going to Hilton Head in May and back to Animal Kingdom in December to see the Christmas dec's. we are planning another family trip with kids and grandkids in '10. We have never regretted or looked back at our decision. Animal Kingdom is the kind of place that you could go and just enjoy the resort. It is peaceful and relaxing. Just a bus ride from the chaos, but relaxing to come back to. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

[ACDSNY]

So far we're 2 for 2 purchasing sight unseen at SSR & AKV and are very happy with our DVC. Our add on at GC will be the first one we've seen before purchasing.

I started checking out the info on SSR before it was built, but didn't buy our first contract until Sept 2005. We like the location from when we stayed at the Disney Institute five years earlier.

Our purchase at AKV was more to start a new UY with only 100 points and to get the GC Founding Member buying opportunity. We love AK park so I imagine we'll enjoy our first visit in November.

[jimmytammy]

We bought site unseen at VWL. Actually we did see the roof from the monorail, but at the time, we didnt know we were going to purchase. I was like you, a bit nervous. But I walked in that lobby, and all nerves went away. AKL was designed by the same architect and IMO, they did a fantastic job on both. AKL is a relaxing place. And I get the sneaky feeling you wont be dissapointed.

[tjcj]

We bought SSR without ever stepping onto the property. Had been looking into DVC for years and when it became a financial reality we just jumped on the best offer out there!
Have never looked back and think DVC is the best thing going out there (not only as the best way to go to WDW but also as the best timeshare out there).

[dizzneebabe]

We bought AKV sight unseen and LOVE it.

DITTO! We LOVED it! The resort is beautiful!

[discott71]

I am even more excited than before :yay: I just know we made the right decision. I can't wait to go "home" in May. We are staying at SSR first on develper points and then AKV for a couple nights:dance3: . We check in to AKV on Wedsnesday. I'm hoping to check out all the "Welcome Wednesday" activities. Anybody participate in that? Also, I heard there's cookie decorating. I'm sure my kids will love it.

[skelooch]

I bought BCV before it opened in 2002 sight unseen, and never even saw the Beach Club Resort. Best thing I ever did, have not regreted it for 1 minute.

[CarolAnnC]

Viewed the OKW models several times before purchasing in 1997. Never stayed there prior to purchase.

Stayed one time at BWV and purchased there a few years later.

Purchased BCV without viewing models and without staying there (or Beach Club for that matter).

Purchased Vero Beach after one previous stay there on points.

I figured if I did not like any of these DVC resorts, I would need my head examined, LOL! Seriously, for someone who was previously staying at moderates or off site, any of the DVC accommodations are going to make me very happy...

[DisneyMim]

We bought way back in 1991 site unseen, heck I don't even think it was built yet!! We are one of the very first members and were waiting on this for a long time. No regrets, have loved every single year of our ownership.

ENJOY THE MAGIC!!