The Trip That Almost Wasn't - December '09 (We are BACK!!!! TR to start soon)

[Leger13]

Oh ... and thus starts the downhill spiral!!

I laugh b/c once you really start to get into this, it is $$$$. My DH has his eye on yet another lens (?). I swear, he has like 2 or 3 lenses and filters already but there is always something else. Then when he goes to take a photo, he'll say, "Oh I brought the wrong lens with me!"

The one he has his eye on now is over $1500!!!!!!!!!!! I guess it's supposed to replace having to take multiple lenses with him. He's been saving up money for 2 years now but he has a l-o-n-g way to go...his money, BTW. I told him if he'd start packing his lunch instead of eating out every day he could probably afford it by next year (but I'm just the logical person...why listen to me?)

Oh yeah....I realized this when I purchased the camera. Before I even got it I was eyeballing different lenses. There's 2 I have my eye on right now but nothing as expensive as $1500! I know some of the mac daddy lenses can get oober expensive fast! Even if you buy off brand it's still very expensive.

yeah, listening to you would only make sense....I can't get Chris to listen to me half the time either

 

[nikkiheaven]

I forgot to say where we are staying. Silly me.

We are booked at All Star Movies for November 28th - December 5th

OK, I'm subscribing. I will be in Disney from Dec. 1 - Dec. 6. My first time, so i have no idea what to do. So, I may be stealing a few of your ideas!

 

[Leger13]

Welcome Nikki and congrats on your first trip to WDW!! you picked a great time of year to go! Feel free to steel any trip ideas/plans from me and ask any questions you may have. There's a great group of people here that will be happy to answer them along with me.

Thanks for subbing and reading along


Posted from my iPhone

 

[Leger13]

It's decided. By October of next year I will be a DVC owner!!!!!!

I'm posting from my phone right now because I'm really supposed to be cleaning so I'll post more of the details later.

(I think I need a new ticker now )

 

[cherbear]

It's decided. By October of next year I will be a DVC owner!!!!!!

I'm posting from my phone right now because I'm really supposed to be cleaning so I'll post more of the details later.

(I think I need a new ticker now )

coolio! I mean...AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

How'd y'all come up with October of next year?

 

[Marshay]

It's decided. By October of next year I will be a DVC owner!!!!!!

I'm posting from my phone right now because I'm really supposed to be cleaning so I'll post more of the details later.

(I think I need a new ticker now )

Wow!!! I definitely want to hear the details of what you are thinkig...esp how you picked October...what resort(s) ... how many points ... resale or Disney.

As for choosing a number of points...if you want, I can tell you approx how many points it would be to stay at "x" resort during "x" month for "x" days...just to get an idea

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

OK, I'm subscribing. I will be in Disney from Dec. 1 - Dec. 6. My first time, so i have no idea what to do. So, I may be stealing a few of your ideas!

Aw, your very first post! to the DIS! Are you addicted yet?

It's decided. By October of next year I will be a DVC owner!!!!!!

I'm posting from my phone right now because I'm really supposed to be cleaning so I'll post more of the details later.

(I think I need a new ticker now )

WOOHOO!!!!!

That calls for some bananas fo sho!



(you know I don't whip out the banana for just any old thing!)

(*sigh.... that would be a great tag )

 

[Marshay]

Did you all see the ads on the page? Too funny.

(Cameras and camera bags...)

 

[Leger13]

coolio! I mean...AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

How'd y'all come up with October of next year?

Thanks girl.

I'll put the details up in my next post

Wow!!! I definitely want to hear the details of what you are thinkig...esp how you picked October...what resort(s) ... how many points ... resale or Disney.

As for choosing a number of points...if you want, I can tell you approx how many points it would be to stay at "x" resort during "x" month for "x" days...just to get an idea

I was wondering....how do they decide what month in the year your points roll over?? Is it based on the month you purchase the DVC in or what?

I'll put all the details on how the decision came about in my next post.

Oooooo yeah that would be GREAT if you could do that. I'm so totally confused about that aspect of DVC too

Aw, your very first post! to the DIS! Are you addicted yet?




WOOHOO!!!!!

That calls for some bananas fo sho!



(you know I don't whip out the banana for just any old thing!)

(*sigh.... that would be a great tag )

I got Love to break out the nanners!!

lmao:yeah that would make a great tag)

Did you all see the ads on the page? Too funny.

(Cameras and camera bags...)

I love how the ads change based on what you're talking about on the page. I'm surprised that there's not ads for DVC too

 

[Leger13]

Okay....sorry I left y'all hanging earlier. I was so not feeling the cleaning thing so I had to at least get on here from my phone and break the good news I did manage to get a little more cleaning done and packing so I made some progress...just not much. And now I only have tomorrow to get the rest done in Oh well.

Anyways, so here's the scoop. On my way home me and Chris were texting and he was talking about wanting to get a $13,000 motorcycle (he already has a perfectly good motorcycle). I told him he wouldn't be getting another one until I get something big that I want.

Him: "you're not going to give up on this DVC thing are you!?"
Me: "No! It's my dream and like you said, it's an investment in our family. We'll be taking a vacation every year regardless....this way we can stay in any DVC all over the world w/o having to worry about it and it will always be luxury! Plus I've always wanted to say I own a piece of disney hehe "
Him: "well, we can do it when we get the Credit Cards paid off or our signature loans paid off. Or you can talk to your Dad about helping us out with DVC and we can do it sooner."
Me: "ok. I don't have the b@lls to ask my Dad for that kind of loan"
Him: "well, then it will just take us a little longer to get it."
Me: "I also don't want you to just be saying yes to DVC because I want it. It has to be something that you really want too"
Him: "I do want it boo. I'm not just saying yes."
Me: "yay!!"
Me: "I just figured out how we can be DVC owners before the end of next year!!!"
Him: "We'll see...."
Me: "You don't think I can do it??"
Him: "All I said is we'll see...."
Me: "Oh ye of little faith!"

Did you like that monolog of what happened on our txts? Well, as I was driving I schemed a plan in my head how I can get the credit cards paid off by September/October of next year so I figured as soon as I get the credit cards paid off we can go and see Becca and James for a weekend and get our DVC membership I'm pretty sure we'll be able to have them paid off by the summer but I'm putting the more realistic goal of paying them off by October out there instead just incase something happens and we have to shell out $ for an emergancy or something. I hope that doesn't happen but you just never know.

So there you have it folks. Chris and I will be part of the DVC before 2010 is over!!

Oh and I have no idea which resort to buy into......I'm still a little confused by all of that but part of me is thinking BLT since the dues are the cheapest.

 

[Marshay]

Thanks girl.

I'll put the details up in my next post

I was wondering....how do they decide what month in the year your points roll over?? Is it based on the month you purchase the DVC in or what?

I'll put all the details on how the decision came about in my next post.

Oooooo yeah that would be GREAT if you could do that. I'm so totally confused about that aspect of DVC too

OK, a couple of things.

1) You don't have to go down to Disney to purchase DVC. You can do it all over the phone. I'm not aware of any extras you get by doing it in person...oh, you may get a picture taken and an ice cream cone...but that's it.

2) If you buy from Disney, they will let you know what Use Years are available. If you buy resale, you pick from the existing contracts.

The importance of Use Year means when you actually get your points each year and when they expire.

For example, I have a December Use Year so my points will expire Nov 30th each year. I have to either bank or use my points by Nov 30th or lose them.

In general it doesn't matter what Use Year you have. However, I'll give you a scenerio we have where it could matter.

We have a December Use Year. We are going in November to WDW this year. Once we book a trip, those points MUST be used within our use year.

So, our trip is Nov 14 and we have to use all the points by Nov 30th. IF for some reason we have to cancel our Nov 14th trip, we only have 16 more days to use those points or lose them.

Now if we had a July Use Year and had to cancel our Nov 14th trip, we'd have an additional 8 months to use those points before they would expire.

Got it?

So if you know that you will do most of you traveling in Oct/Nov, then you would prefer not to have a Dec/Jan/Feb Use Year. Something in Jun-Sept would be good.

However, if you are like us and do not travel the same time each year, then a Use Year really doesn't matter.

3) Now if you decide to add-on an additional contract in the future (we call it "suffering from addonitis") and almost everyone does (!), then it's a great help if BOTH of your contracts have the same Use Year. Much easier to plan and keep track of the points.

If you add-on a contract thru Disney they will match your existing use year.

If you decide to add-on thru resale, then you'd have to look for another contract with same use year to make things easier.

======

I hope this did not confuse you...

Bottom line: no need to truly worry about use year...it's more of an insurance thing (what if I have to cancel, will there be enough time to still vacation before the points expire)

 

[Marshay]

As for resorts -- honestly pick the resort where you are most likely to stay.

Folks told me that prior to buying but we really didn't listen to them...instead went with the cheapest. But as more people buy into DVC, the 11 month advantage for your favorite resort will be huge.

When you switch resorts at the 7 month mark, there may not be any availability. This is what happened to us with BLT for December. All the owners booked it at 11 months so we could only get in for November.

Also, remember there is absolutely NO, I repeat NO and repeat again, NO promise that you will be able to always stay at another DVC. It could be booked or Disney could withdraw the privilege of trading into another DVC.

So you better be really happy with the one(s) you choose.

We bought SSR since it was the cheapest ... however, if Disney stops letting us trade out to BC or BLT, we are {somewhat} screwed. We really don't like SSR, even though we haven't been there...we just know we like the hotel resorts better.

We love our AKV and probably should have bought all of our points there (or BLT).

Now, if DVC announces that they are going to convert the POLY, then I'm all over that!!!

 

[Marshay]

Whew!! Are you tired of me yet??

 

[Marshay]

Lastly, you asked about points.

1_Tell me what resort you most likely want to stay at. (i.e., OKW is MUCH, MUCH, cheaper points than BLT)

2_Tell me what month you would most likely be traveling (i.e., Sept is cheaper points than July)

3_Tell me what type of room you would most likely want (i.e., studio, 1BR, 2BR)

4_Tell me what type of view you would want (if available) (i.e., Savanna & Magic Kingdom are MUCH, MUCH more points that an standard parking lot view)

5_Tell me how long you would most likely go. Does this include weekends? (i.e., Staying Sun night to Fri morning is MUCH, MUCH cheaper than when you include Friday and Saturday nights)


If you can make a guesstimate of answers, then I can tell you how many points is recommended.

Yes, this seems sort of impossible to do ... probably the hardest part of buying DVC. But if you screw up and don't have enough points .. you can always get "addonitis".

 

[Marshay]

As for DVCs, here is my quick synopsis:

OKW and SSR are large sprawling resorts. OKW has a beach theme and SSR has horse racing theme. OKW is the cheapest points and largest rooms. It is also the oldest. SSR now has the treehouses which look cool.

VWL is close to MK and a nice woodsy feel. One of the smaller resorts.

BC has great beach theme, can walk into Epcot and boat to DHS (MGM for you!). And the #1 reason -- SAB!! This is an awesome pool complex.

Boardwalk has said theme, can walk into Epcot and boat to DHS. It has 2 view categories (standard and boardwalk).

AKV is a large resort but incredibly themed. You buy here if you want to get a savanna view to see the animals. You can also get a Value room which is one of the cheapest points around, so also good if you don't have a lot of points but still want to go. Kidani is newest with larger rooms than Jambo and Kidani has 2nd bathroom with new pool complex.

BLT is monorail hotel. It has standard, Lake and MK views. It is the MOST points to stay here, so if you plan to stay here often, you need to buy a lot of points. Walking to MK is #1 reason to buy here.

 

[Trentmom]

It's decided. By October of next year I will be a DVC owner!!!!!!

I'm posting from my phone right now because I'm really supposed to be cleaning so I'll post more of the details later.

(I think I need a new ticker now )

Okay....sorry I left y'all hanging earlier. I was so not feeling the cleaning thing so I had to at least get on here from my phone and break the good news I did manage to get a little more cleaning done and packing so I made some progress...just not much. And now I only have tomorrow to get the rest done in Oh well.

Anyways, so here's the scoop. On my way home me and Chris were texting and he was talking about wanting to get a $13,000 motorcycle (he already has a perfectly good motorcycle). I told him he wouldn't be getting another one until I get something big that I want.

Him: "you're not going to give up on this DVC thing are you!?"
Me: "No! It's my dream and like you said, it's an investment in our family. We'll be taking a vacation every year regardless....this way we can stay in any DVC all over the world w/o having to worry about it and it will always be luxury! Plus I've always wanted to say I own a piece of disney hehe "
Him: "well, we can do it when we get the Credit Cards paid off or our signature loans paid off. Or you can talk to your Dad about helping us out with DVC and we can do it sooner."
Me: "ok. I don't have the b@lls to ask my Dad for that kind of loan"
Him: "well, then it will just take us a little longer to get it."
Me: "I also don't want you to just be saying yes to DVC because I want it. It has to be something that you really want too"
Him: "I do want it boo. I'm not just saying yes."
Me: "yay!!"
Me: "I just figured out how we can be DVC owners before the end of next year!!!"
Him: "We'll see...."
Me: "You don't think I can do it??"
Him: "All I said is we'll see...."
Me: "Oh ye of little faith!"

Did you like that monolog of what happened on our txts? Well, as I was driving I schemed a plan in my head how I can get the credit cards paid off by September/October of next year so I figured as soon as I get the credit cards paid off we can go and see Becca and James for a weekend and get our DVC membership I'm pretty sure we'll be able to have them paid off by the summer but I'm putting the more realistic goal of paying them off by October out there instead just incase something happens and we have to shell out $ for an emergancy or something. I hope that doesn't happen but you just never know.

So there you have it folks. Chris and I will be part of the DVC before 2010 is over!!

Oh and I have no idea which resort to buy into......I'm still a little confused by all of that but part of me is thinking BLT since the dues are the cheapest.

That is so awesome

Can't wait to see what resort you end up buying into

 

[Trentmom]

WOW....You have really done your homework Marshay


You are good

 

[cherbear]

I love how the ads change based on what you're talking about on the page. I'm surprised that there's not ads for DVC too

oh geez...then why am I getting weight loss ads?

Are they trying to tell me something?

 

[cherbear]

WOW....You have really done your homework Marshay


You are good

Marshay is awesome!

 

[Leger13]

OK, a couple of things.

1) You don't have to go down to Disney to purchase DVC. You can do it all over the phone. I'm not aware of any extras you get by doing it in person...oh, you may get a picture taken and an ice cream cone...but that's it.

I think I'd rather purchase in person. I've heard of ppl getting gift cards or something of the sort if they purchase in person. Not that I care all that much about that but I don't trust USPS with my valuable paper work/contracts that would have to be sent back and forth if I didn't do it in person. Plus it gives me an excuse to go and see Becca (like I need one)

2) If you buy from Disney, they will let you know what Use Years are available. If you buy resale, you pick from the existing contracts.

The importance of Use Year means when you actually get your points each year and when they expire.

For example, I have a December Use Year so my points will expire Nov 30th each year. I have to either bank or use my points by Nov 30th or lose them.

In general it doesn't matter what Use Year you have. However, I'll give you a scenerio we have where it could matter.

We have a December Use Year. We are going in November to WDW this year. Once we book a trip, those points MUST be used within our use year.

So, our trip is Nov 14 and we have to use all the points by Nov 30th. IF for some reason we have to cancel our Nov 14th trip, we only have 16 more days to use those points or lose them.

Now if we had a July Use Year and had to cancel our Nov 14th trip, we'd have an additional 8 months to use those points before they would expire.

Got it?

So if you know that you will do most of you traveling in Oct/Nov, then you would prefer not to have a Dec/Jan/Feb Use Year. Something in Jun-Sept would be good.

However, if you are like us and do not travel the same time each year, then a Use Year really doesn't matter.

Ah I totally understand. So since I don't travel in the summer months it would be good for me to have a use year in June or July. The only thing about that is that might change after we have kids but I'm not going to base things now on what we don't have. I do have one question though. (as if you haven't already given me a ton of info)......what if say we book a studio room and that uses most of our points for the year and then we decide to invite some friends/family along and want to book a 1 or 2 bedroom villa but need more points than what we have at the time....since we've already booked can we upgrade our room and borrow points from the next use year to cover the difference? I know you said we can borrow points from the next year but I'm just curious if we will still be able to after we've already booked a room.

3) Now if you decide to add-on an additional contract in the future (we call it "suffering from addonitis") and almost everyone does (!), then it's a great help if BOTH of your contracts have the same Use Year. Much easier to plan and keep track of the points.

If you add-on a contract thru Disney they will match your existing use year.

If you decide to add-on thru resale, then you'd have to look for another contract with same use year to make things easier.

totally understand that

======

I hope this did not confuse you...

Bottom line: no need to truly worry about use year...it's more of an insurance thing (what if I have to cancel, will there be enough time to still vacation before the points expire)

Gotcha. Thanks girl

As for resorts -- honestly pick the resort where you are most likely to stay.

Folks told me that prior to buying but we really didn't listen to them...instead went with the cheapest. But as more people buy into DVC, the 11 month advantage for your favorite resort will be huge.

When you switch resorts at the 7 month mark, there may not be any availability. This is what happened to us with BLT for December. All the owners booked it at 11 months so we could only get in for November.

Also, remember there is absolutely NO, I repeat NO and repeat again, NO promise that you will be able to always stay at another DVC. It could be booked or Disney could withdraw the privilege of trading into another DVC.

So you better be really happy with the one(s) you choose.

We bought SSR since it was the cheapest ... however, if Disney stops letting us trade out to BC or BLT, we are {somewhat} screwed. We really don't like SSR, even though we haven't been there...we just know we like the hotel resorts better.

We love our AKV and probably should have bought all of our points there (or BLT).

Now, if DVC announces that they are going to convert the POLY, then I'm all over that!!!

Wow now that gives me something to think about for sure. I really was thinking BLT because the dues were cheaper but I really like BWV. Can I even still buy into BWV or is it one of the closed resorts? Oh I would be all over a Poly DVC too! BLT would be nice for the monorail. Hmmmm....so much to think about.

Whew!! Are you tired of me yet??

no way!! You are helping me tremendously!!!

Lastly, you asked about points.

1_Tell me what resort you most likely want to stay at. (i.e., OKW is MUCH, MUCH, cheaper points than BLT)

I've only seen pictures of the BLT resort and really liked it but I also know I'm going to want to stay at BCV and BWV. So lets just say BWV because I keep leaning in that direction.

2_Tell me what month you would most likely be traveling (i.e., Sept is cheaper points than July)

Probably either September (our birthdays....his is sept 17th and mine is the 14th) or around the same time we are going this year....week after Thanksgiving.

3_Tell me what type of room you would most likely want (i.e., studio, 1BR, 2BR)

It will more than likely be just the two of us most of the time so we'll probably just do a Studio. (again I know this will change after we have children....)

4_Tell me what type of view you would want (if available) (i.e., Savanna & Magic Kingdom are MUCH, MUCH more points that an standard parking lot view)

We like to be near the parking lot so the standard view room will be fine with us (I know we'll do an upgrade here at least a few times while we have DVC but most of the time we'll just want to save the points)

5_Tell me how long you would most likely go. Does this include weekends? (i.e., Staying Sun night to Fri morning is MUCH, MUCH cheaper than when you include Friday and Saturday nights)

We usually like to go for at least a week (saturday to saturday).

If you can make a guesstimate of answers, then I can tell you how many points is recommended.

Yes, this seems sort of impossible to do ... probably the hardest part of buying DVC. But if you screw up and don't have enough points .. you can always get "addonitis".

I like the idea of "addonitis" Nice to know that I'll still be able to add if I need/want to (which I'm sure I will at some point)

As for DVCs, here is my quick synopsis:

OKW and SSR are large sprawling resorts. OKW has a beach theme and SSR has horse racing theme. OKW is the cheapest points and largest rooms. It is also the oldest. SSR now has the treehouses which look cool.

VWL is close to MK and a nice woodsy feel. One of the smaller resorts.

BC has great beach theme, can walk into Epcot and boat to DHS (MGM for you!). And the #1 reason -- SAB!! This is an awesome pool complex.

Boardwalk has said theme, can walk into Epcot and boat to DHS. It has 2 view categories (standard and boardwalk).

AKV is a large resort but incredibly themed. You buy here if you want to get a savanna view to see the animals. You can also get a Value room which is one of the cheapest points around, so also good if you don't have a lot of points but still want to go. Kidani is newest with larger rooms than Jambo and Kidani has 2nd bathroom with new pool complex.

BLT is monorail hotel. It has standard, Lake and MK views. It is the MOST points to stay here, so if you plan to stay here often, you need to buy a lot of points. Walking to MK is #1 reason to buy here.

The monorail is very tempting to make me want to go BLT but I like that I can walk to EPCOT and boat to MGM from BWV. I have no problem driving to MK and we don't go to AK (which would keep us from buying into AKV....)

The more I hear about BWV the more I want to buy into there...I know Chris wants BLT because the annual dues are cheaper. I'm so torn btwn the two but I know I'll be happy either way.

That is so awesome

Can't wait to see what resort you end up buying into

oh geez...then why am I getting weight loss ads?

Are they trying to tell me something?

No you are tiny as it is!