How familiar were you with your home resort when you first joined DVC

DebbieB · Aug 1, 2015

I stayed at the Beach Club in 1998 and loved the area. I had no intention of buying DVC until a friend invited me to stay at an OKW 2 bedroom in March 2009. I just loved all the room and the amenities. I was traveling with friends on some trips and my mom on other trips. After the OKW stay, I seriously started considering DVC. At the time, the only WDW DVC were Old Key West and Boardwalk. I could see staying at both but decided BWV would be a better buy because it would be harder to get at 7 months. I was thinking OKW for May and BWV for early December trips. I viewed photos and remembered walking the boardwalk during that 1998 trip. So in September 1999 I bought over the phone. I already had a December trip staying at POR (then Dixie Landings) and kept it mainly because I sold 150 of my 250 1999 points through a promo DVC had ($10/point) and figured I could bank the other 100 and have 350 points In April 2000 to get started with DVC stays. My mom and I did do a tour of the BWV models that trip and I met my guide (he had been my friend's guide). Never regretted my decision!

pinklotusflower · Aug 2, 2015

We've not stayed yet at a DVC resort, we have done the tour twice and love spending time at the Boardwalk and been round the mock up room. We tend to spend the morning at Hollywood studios lunch on the Boardwalk then over to Epcot, we love the ease of walking to two parks which is why we're buying points there.

drusba · Aug 2, 2015

Though we orginally bought BWV "sight unseen" in early 1997, the situation was quite different from what it is today. We orginally looked at OKW (then called the "Disney Vacation Club" resort) in the early 1990s and after seeing the resort and reading everything available, thought the DVC timeshare system was worthwhile, particularly for being able to get 1BRs and 2BRs and stay on site, but did not want to buy a resort that was away from the parks and hugely spread out; we preferred staying at near park resorts and thus dropped the DVC idea as a result. When BWV came along, it was only the second DVC resort at WDW and buying it was a no brainer since we had stayed at both Yacht and Beach Club and thought the Epcot resort area was ideal.

Kidanifan08 · Aug 2, 2015

We purchased our first AKV contract onsite while visiting the SSR sales center. They were selling AKV and BLT at the time. We liked the look and feel of the AKV rooms, and the incentives made the cost lower than BLT. My wife's brother and his family had been DVC members for several years at OKW, so we were fairly familiar with the program when we bought. Needless to say, I have learned a great deal more since joining the DIS in 2011, and have more than doubled our number of points with resale add-ons since 2011. In retrospect, BLT may have been a better purchase for long-term value, but we would not have been able to buy as many points and stay as long as we have with our AKV points. We have used CL and value rooms quite a bit over the years.

MadamG2U · Aug 2, 2015

I had never stayed at a DVC resort. I don't go to Disney much. But my best friend is the Disney Queen. She has been telling me about DVC for years. She convinced me to 1) go to food & Wine; 2) go to Europe on the Magic. And something happened. I had a great time. While on the cruise I went to a DVC meeting. It was interesting, so I made an appt. to speak to the DVC rep. I think my BF fainted. I asked her to come to the meeting with me. I'd gone to Hawaii on business and had a good time. So I thought why not. It was an impulse buy. I am going on my first DVC trip with family in September followed by a cruise on the Dream and have three more DVC trips planned after that. Would I suggest people do what I did....NO. Do I regret it....NO. Have I been converted to a Disney person....not really. But I am pleased with my purchase and look forward to many many trips.

MadamG2U

JohnnyB2 · Aug 2, 2015

We were staying at the YC for some years as the Boardwalk was under construction. When they started taking reservations we stayed there in a 1 bedroom DVC room and had the Luna Park pool view both times. When we decided on DVC we knew where we wanted to be.

3 Hobbits 2 Disney · Aug 2, 2015

Went in 1995 and 1996 - actually did the OKW tour but the word time share scared us. Forgot about it until 2004 when we did a quick adults trip. We toured Boardwalk, but we still weren't ready. Kept in touch with our guide and bought SSR based on blue prints because we loved being close to DTD. We bought direct not knowing any better, and we're currently in Estoppel for an additional 120 SSR points.

rfc0001 · Aug 2, 2015

We stayed in SSR twice (along with AVK, BLT, & VWL) through RCI exchanges before becoming DVC Members at SSR. RCI was (and still is) an amazing way to experience DVC if you have flexibility when you can visit and/or don't mind staying at SSR or OKV (two most common exchanges). Having experienced the DVC lifestyle through RCI, DVC was the obvious next step for us, as our kids became school aged, & we wanted flexibility to book specific dates/resorts in advance during peak demand spring break & July-August seasons. Being a DVC Member also allowed us to check out new resorts, including Aulani, which we bought resale after staying, and Poly which was our first site unseen purchase. We went back & forth on buying poly presale. Ultimately, we decided we loved the Hawaiian resort feel so much from visiting the resort on previously trips, & the price would never be a better value given presale contracts came with a whopping 51 years of points (2014-2064 UYs) & the presale price was effectively $152/pt. after developer paid MFs for 2014 ($6/pt) & prorated 2015 MFs ($2/pt credit). We've been happy, happy, happy with all three purchases-only regret is not buying BLT resale back when it was in the $80s when we first bought SSR (then again, we got SSR @ $59, AUL @ $87, so can't complain :rolleyes1

).

laurenspop · Aug 2, 2015

Still have not stayed at the home resort we initially purchased and added on to!

disBOBney · Aug 3, 2015

When I first purchased, it was my first trip ever staying on Disney property, and I had never heard of DVC. As we went to the parks, I seen the kiosks everywhere, I started to stop and browse the books and ask a little bit about what DVC was. I eventually went to a preview center and bought VGC. At the time they were selling AK, BLT and GC, since I expected to vacation on short notice, it didn't matter where I bought and my guide suggested that Grand Cal could be the best value in the long haul. My next three purchases, I likewise had never stayed in the resort before purchase, I bought BCV for the location to Epcot, OKW for when I need additional accommodations for guests, and PVB for the monorail and the Poly theme. While I had previously known about the DIS and had done some planning for that 1st on property trip, I am glad, I had never looked to the DIS for info about DVC, I probably would have never joined. Although, if I had followed the DIS about DVC, perhaps I would have checked out the resale market and saved $$$, but more than likely, I never would have bought, each of my purchases have been relatively impulse buys and therefore all have been direct buys. I didn't buy DVC because it was going to save me all kinds of money, but because it would make it more difficult for me to not take vacations on a regular basis. While I may not fully agree with those who say "DVC is a luxury purchase," I must say that for me it is an indulgent purchase.

RobbW · Aug 3, 2015

Our last 4 or 5 trips to WDW have all been trades into DVC via RCI. We've stayed at AKV and OKW, and many non-DVC including GF, WL, CSR, BC, and did a DVC presentation at AKV once. We've never stayed at CR or BLT, which is where we just put in an offer for our first DVC purchase (offer accepted this past Friday, woot!). I guess that makes our purchase "sight unseen" with regards to our home resort. Although, we did have dinner at the California Grill on my last trip. So, we kind of visited the resort area once before purchasing, but have never physically stepped foot in BLT.

Dr Gevil · Aug 4, 2015

During our honeymoon, we toured a lot of the resorts at WDW and we both fell in love with the Beach Club (and the just opened BCV). We both said someday, once we have the money, this is where we are going stay.

Several years later, with cash in hand and armed with really years of research (including invaluable info and advice from all the DVCers that post here), we found a perfect BCV resale contract and bought in 2013-14. After the fantastic first two trips, addonitis hit and we realized we needed more points for longer/more trips and found another perfect AKV resale contract for us with a matching use year to our BCV contract. We loved past trips where we stayed at Jambo House and our girls absolutely love this resort. The second bathroom at Kidani also helped sealed the deal.

Really wished we could have bought sooner, but also nice to pay for everything with cash. :sunny:

Noelle · Aug 4, 2015

We bought BCV sight unseen in February 2002. Ended up being one of the best purchases my family ever made. We then bought SSR sight unseen based on how much we LOVED BCV. That was not such a good purchase. I mean we used the points over the years, but we were definitely not in love with the resort. Ended up usually staying at OKW with our points. Even tried the Tree House Villas and thought that would be the thing that helped us enjoy SSR. It didn't.
All our stays at OKW with our SSR points helped us fall in love with OKW. We ended up adding on to OKW (because how much our family enjoys it there and we want Grand Villas for Xmas /Thanksgiving time every couple of years so we need the 11 month booking window) and BWV (for Food & Wine long weekend trip for Hubby and I - standard view at 11 months).
Still we held onto our SSR points...Then we toured VGF. GF had always been by far our favorite Disney resort - a special treat for those few and far between 'cash' stays. Although we tried to resist because of the cost, we ultimately bought 100 points at VGF thinking we'd go every three years. Stayed there and basically sold our SSR points within the week we came home to buy another 100 points at VGF.

Moral of the story is it's probably better to stay in the resort before you buy and know what you're buying...13 years ago, I had no idea that I would care about 11 month booking window or that the resort is a HUGE part of my vacation - not just the place I stay while I'm visiting the Disney Theme Parks.

JWG · Aug 4, 2015

Bought BLT site unseen. I was a big Contemporary fan and had faith in the location.

Dvc808 · Aug 4, 2015

Stayed at Aulani for a weekend and then bought that same week. I was wanting to get into DVC for over 25 years when it aired on the travel channel. But it was out of the budget then. I couldn't make the flight out to Florida every several years or so. Don't know if VGC was even available then as I only saw what they showed on the travel channel. But as soon as I went to Aulani, stayed there with my family, witnessed how much my kids really enjoyed themselves (my wife also loved it), I knew we could make it work. Aulani is about a 30 minute drive away, and I can afford DVC now, and we go several times a year to our home resort. Only wish we knew of "the dis" so we could have saved $$$ with resale. Discovered this site after we bought and now frequent it on a regular basis. Had some friends buy into it also. And yes we did have add-onnitis and bought at VGC and BWV. No regrets!

philharmagic fan · Aug 6, 2015

We had been looking at DVC for several years, but wanted a monorail resort location. We stayed at the Contemporary one Christmas, and BLT was a few girders sticking out of the ground below our balcony (we got a nice upgrade from garden wing to tower - lake and construction site view). Although no one at Disney would confirm that those girders would be a DVC resort, we called and were assigned a guide who phoned us once the announcement had been made of the sale date for new members, and we bought within a couple of days of that date. We later added on some less expensive OKW points for use at 7 months at other resorts.

Popouri DVC · Aug 6, 2015

We bought VGF in October of 2014. I had always wanted to stay at The Grand Floridian since I started taking regular trips to Disney in 2008 (a fantastic Food & Wine trip started it all) but always had sticker shock at the nightly room rates! As the years passed and I realized how much we were paying for our trips I started seriously thinking about DVC. I found the DIS boards and read and read and read. I wanted my first DVC purchase to be Direct, despite all of the resale advice from the boards: I felt that my first buy should be from Disney for a variety of reasons. So finally last year we decided to go for it and bought VGF. It's been ten months now and we've stayed a weekend at BCV, four days over my birthday at BLT and Memorial Day weekend at Vero Beach. Have yet to stay at VGF (ppl weren't kidding when they've commented that VGF books up fast and early) but we have our first stay coming in October for our anniversary (which I booked last November a month after closing)! Have loved DVC! What a year! So... Now we're in the ROFR process for a resale add-on at VGF. Hopefully will close on that before we finally have our first stay at our Disney "home."

I have to thank all the DIS community though for all the great information and advice! It made both my DVC purchases super easy! I remember my Disney guide last year was shocked when I called him and told him exactly what I wanted: he couldn't believe it when I didn't have any questions for him; I told him that I learned everything I needed from my own research! It was much the same for the broker for our resale add-on. So thanks all and I'm glad to be here!!

DisneyGirlFlorida · Aug 6, 2015

I never stayed at a DVC room before buying. I had stayed at GF club level and regular rooms previously. When I bought DVC, I bought VGF knowing how much I Loved the place. I also purchased a small SSR contract just for extra points thinking I would NOT like SSR based on what I saw when I visited the sales center. After my first night stay at SSR my opinion completely changed and I LOVED it! I'm afraid now I may love SSR more than VGF.

RAD · Aug 6, 2015

One year we stayed at the Swan after having stayed at all the Disney deluxe resort and were not happy with the non Disney experience. We had some time to kill so took a walk around Crescent Lake and came up on the DVC sales center which was housed in BWV's (this was 1999). Since we still had some time to kill we just walked in to see what it was about, having not done any prior research on DVC. A couple hours later we walked out with a canvas DVC bag, a bunch of paperwork and 210 BWV points.

DisneyStarWisher · Aug 8, 2015

Back in 2008, we were supposed to be headed to WL for a cash reservation. My grandfather had become ill and hospitalized the month before. We had to cancel the trip due to the fact that his feeding tube was removed the day we were supposed to leave. At the same time, DVD decided to offer 100-point contracts (instead of the normal 160) at AKV. I had already been doing a lot of research on DVC and after looking at all the pictures of the resorts had decided AKV was my favorite. (The reason we had booked at WL was because it ended up being cheaper than a cash ressie at AKL.) we could not afford 160 points but we could afford 100, so it made sense to use the money we were saving from the canceled trip to buy 100 points at AKV and use the developer's points at SSR for a fall trip that year. We ended up learning that fall is our favorite time to go! It's interesting though that we used our first true AKV points to go to HHI the next summer. We immediately added on there because we fell in love. We finally used our AKV points in 2010 for a splurge in a concierge studio followed by 6 nights in a 2 BR savanna view room. Since then, I have stayed in every DVC resort except VGF, BC, Poly, VGC, and Aulani. And AKV is still my favorite at WDW!

So we bought AKV based on pictures alone! We added on at HHI after visiting the resort.

How familiar were you with your home resort when you first joined DVC

How familiar were you with your home resort when you first joined DVC?

I bought sight unseen

I saw floor plans, drawings, and/or brochures

I saw photos/reviews of the resort on the web

I toured the model rooms in person

I visited the resort in person

I actually stayed at the resort

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