What made you pull the "trigger"

[dzorn]

For DH it was sharing a room at POR with me, 2DDs and SIL, two of which snore . Seeing the 1 bedroom model of AKV sold him even though we were stay on free dining.

Denise in MI

 

[3girlsfun]

We have put in an offer at OKW!!! Thank you everyone for the awesome advice, and truly heartwarming and special stories!

 

[xipetotec]

I have found the contract I want, I have the cash, and I can't seem to "pull the trigger!!!!"

I'm not sure why.... Maybe the large amount if money I'd be parting from, or just the thought if what if?

What made you just do it all ready?

Well in our case, it was my parents who bought in so they could take us and their grandkids on big family trips.

What made them pull the trigger? They had been to other "timeshare" presentations, never bought.
1) It happened ON a Disney Trip in 2002. They saw a DVC stand and enquired what it was. They were given an overview of what DVC is and the approximate costs associated. Then they were invited to the presentation.

2) What REALLY did it was my dad taking the "loose" numbers and working out about how much it should cost. Before going in, he said "If I get any lines like "they are going fast so buy now" or find that there are all sorts of extra costs, I'm outta there"....

Suffice it to say, they came back to our room that evening... DVC members... and we've all had an amazing time with it since!

 

[bwvmary]

We knew that we would go every other year, at least, for 10 or 12 years. Do the math, and remember that the points are rentable for years you can't go.

 

[LilGMom]

We had thought about it for a couple of years but didn't really know much about it. And we thought that being FL residents that we could continue to count on the pretty good FL resident discounts on the rooms. By this time we were going 2-3 times a year and always staying at moderates. Then we got hooked on the Deluxes, but again it was always with a 30-40% FL resident rate. And it was also during the time that your nightly rate was based on the rate that you paid for the first night of your stay. And it was at a time when we could get a moderate for $80/night, with tax, and a deluxe for $125/night, with tax.

Then we planned an "economical" trip and booked at POR even though we wanted to stay at WL. We had issues with our room that we didn't feel were being handled very well and checked out of POR the next day and into WL. We checked in on the first day of Peak Season and the rooms were around $225 with a FL resident discount. We realized that we were starting to feel the pinch staying where we wanted to stay and didn't want to start getting priced out of our favorites. We got home from that trip and pretty much bought DVC within a month. Only regret is not buying sooner.

 

[PoohsFan1]

What made us pull the trigger was the fact that we started going to Disney a lot more often than we used to and loved the fact that as the regular room resorts will still go up each year, our price will always stay the same. Plus also, I have always wanted to become DVC members and DH decided to buy into it (directly through Disney) for my B-day/Christmas gifts ....of course he wanted it for himself as well but would never admit to it outloud

 

[drewmer]

We never seemed able to save for nice trips or we made excuses to not take time away from work. We were wasting our vacations. The DVC was a way to "force" us to take vacations and now we get to take very nice vacations. We tend to stay at the lower end properties but love staying at the nicer ones. This has allowed us to stay at nicer places and since our dues and payment for our point purchase comes straight out of our accounts we never miss the money.

We have never looked back and have added points since our initial purchase. I am sure we will add on again.

Jump in with both feet you will not regret it.

Be sure to give the name of a DVC friend when you purchase.

 

[heathers4um]

GOOD FOR YOU!

You wont regret it! We also just purchased last fall and have been 2x already! We have a small contract direct through Disney and was able to get the previous year's points as well for an incentive. It just made sense for us - and it fed my emotional desire to have a happy place of my own in the happiest place on earth!

If you have never been, you will love OKW - its so laid back and quiet and relalxing. Olivia's is great, and the Gurgling Suitcase has the best bartenders. Quick boat trip to DTD and the busses run smoothly, the extra room in the villas are hard to deny, and the lush tropical grounds with Jimmy Buffet playing overhead will make you never want to leave!

Welcome Home!!

We have put in an offer at OKW!!! Thank you everyone for the awesome advice, and truly heartwarming and special stories!

 

[vellamint]

I always thought that the only way I would buy into DVC was if they built one on the monorail line.

BUT..with the free dining discounts that have been going around for the past 5/6 years I fell in love with "the thrill of the hunt"...looking for bargains, finding the discounts, being on the phone at 7 am sharp on the day the discount would go live!!

The last time (before our DVC purchase) that we went as a family we used a Free Dining offer but due to our family size (6 adults now) I booked 3..yes THREE ASMU rooms. AND we spent way too much time stopping the fun we were having to get to the meals that I had to reserve 6 months out.

Thats when I realized that I wanted, no needed, more room at Disney than the regular rooms that we stayed in. I had stayed MANY times in DVC rooms with a girlfriend and knew how nice it was to have that space so...

1. BLT
2. Need the space
3. Do not care for the dining plan (right now anyway)

 

[vaughan100]

We looked at DVC for almost 10 yrs before buying. The final triggers for us were a DVC on the monorail and our family size.

When the children were younger we began staying at the monorail resorts so it would be easier to transport them. We fell in love with the monorail. I would hunt for months looking for deals or conferences to attend in order to make this fit our budget. This did not work every year though, in 2009 we had to look at non-monorail options. We have a family of 5 so our room options are limited to deluxe resorts, Riverside at Port Orleans or 2 rooms at most of the others. In 2009 we stayed at POR. While the resort was beautiful we were absolutely squished in the room. The last time we stayed in a moderate was when 2 out of 3 kids were in cribs. The thought of either being squished & not being able to sleep well the rest of our vacations or renting 2 rooms made us rethink DVC. We actually bought DVC on the last day of our 2009 visit so maybe we were a little sleep deprived when we made the decision, but the experience of life without DVC was fresh in our minds at the time.

We had our first DVC trip in a 2 bedroom at BLT last July. It was so comfortable, we had our own room the kids had theirs AND we spent how much we would have spent if we stayed in a moderate. (just averaged out over the years) We also added my parents into the mix too. It gives us some extra space to invite others if we want. It makes the vacation so much more relaxing to have the extra space and also to be on Disney property so close to everything.

I am so glad we did it!

 

[Bullseye]

Because we realized that what we were spending in the course of 5-7 trips could actually pay for dvc!

Yep that was the same thing for us too, shelling out $4K -$5K for 6 years in a row and knowing I really like to vacation there and intend to do so for years to come. Plus last summer we stayed in the cabins and it was really nice having the full kitchen and more space. Looking forward to bringing friends and relatives for years to come and hanging out in the world!!

 

[SEC71]

They built at WL and we pulled out six years of hotel bills and compared costs.

 

[staceymay00]

We are fine staying at a moderate level resort, but with three kids we found ourselves upgrading to larger deluxe rooms if we could get a discount. Over the past couple of years, even with 40-45% off discount codes, we were spending $2000 on average just for a hotel room for a week. I also really enjoy having a washer/dryer (no laundry done on vacation means a ton when we get back home-I prefer arriving home with mostly clean clothes) and a full size refrigerator for snacks and beverages. I ran the numbers for buying OKW resale and the cost for staying in a villa over time was comparable to what we were paying for a deluxe room even with a good discount. Our first stay in a 2BR villa at OKW left no doubt we had made the right decision!

 

[DeerIsleDisney]

We are a family of 5 and wanted to be able to stay on property. DVC is more affordable in the long run than staying at a deluxe, and we won't fit into 1 value or moderate room. (Technically we'd fit in the PO Riverside rooms with the trundle... but it really wouldn't work for our family and ages of our kids).

Also, I think we realized that we tend not to plan for fun family vacations and this will make them happen. In some ways, buying DVC is our way of deciding we are going to prioritize family vacations.

 

[mecllap]

If you have some hesitation about the financials, and with three little ones, there might be good justification for waiting until it feels like any other decision would not be the way to go (when your gut says it's time to buy, as well as your brain).

I just bought a couple of years ago when everything was looking rosy for me, but things have changed and am now thinking I might have to sell my points next year, if things don't take a major change for the better.

Why I decided to buy included our having gotten used to travelling differently having gotten into timesharing a few years ago -- it is SOOOOOO much nicer than the way we used to travel. And, as I am getting older, being on property started to have more appeal, so we wouldn't all be tied to the same mode of transportation and schedule (if I want to take it easy and loaf on the balcony or at the pool, and the younger ones want to hit a Park or go offsite, it will be much easier to split up).

With three youngsters, if I could really safely afford it, including all the additional and accompanying costs, I would say go for it -- it would be wonderful to have that enjoyment for at least awhile. DVC does maintain at least some resale value, which most other TS systems do not.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

We had taken the tour on two cruises and never pulled the trigger. When our family expanded to six with the birth of our twins, it made sense. We need the room of a 2 bedroom. I had some retirement funds that were sitting doing nothing with the state, I was never going to get vested so we pulled it out and bought DVC. I am so glad we did, if we would have put in in stocks we would have lost 80% when the market crashed. Atleast I have tons of memories and many vacations to look forward to, money well spent.