Intro - DH and I are both retired and enjoy traveling. As we get older, we're less inclined to get on airplanes for long trips, and started thinking about visiting Disney World more often. This started me researching purchasing DVC, which is the reason for our recent 2 night stay at The Boardwalk (May 22 - 24).
We stayed in the Hotel, with a water view room (there were no Boardwalk View Villas available for our last minute trip). So, why is this in the DVC section? Because the whole purpose was to checkout DVC, and also spend some time on the Boardwalk, since we've never visited this area. We usually stay at the Yacht Club or Beach Club, since Epcot is our favorite Park, but really haven't spent any time at the BWI. We wanted to see if purchasing DVC points at BWI was a good fit for us.
The Trip - we live in South Florida, so it's only a 2 hr drive to WDW. We left on Tuesday morning, after dropping off the dog for boarding - its the first time she's been boarded, so we'll see how this goes.
Arrival - We arrived at the Boardwalk at 1:30 pm. Checked in, room was ready - #5265. Room was fine for a 2 night stay - we liked the decor. Good view of the Yacht Club - pics 0f the view will come later. We did check out the location of the BWI villas, and it looks like the Boardwalk Views are nice.
Lunch and More - We wandered around the resort, and then had a quick lunch at Big River Grill. Nothing like starting off an investigative adventure with a couple of cold ones and a burger.
Visiting DVC Sales Center - After lunch, we visited the DVC satellite office where they have a 1 Bedroom BWI Villa set up for display. The Villa was fine, a little smaller than some of the others we've seen, but not an issue. After some chit chat, we agreed to head to the Real DVC sales center at Saratoga Springs. The nice folks escorted us out to catch a DVC van, which was brand new, and we were on our way.
Our driver was very friendly and we chatted comfortably on the way to SSR. Once there, we had some refreshing iced tea and waited just a few moments for our friendly Guide to appear.
The presentation was low key. While nothing was misleading, I was surprised at two things: 1) an almost total dismissal of the importance of Home Resort, and 2) a similar lack of consideration about Use Year. All the discussion centered around Animal Kingdom, since that's what they are selling now (our guide did say he occasionally talks to people who are interested in Aulani, but he realized that wasn't of interest to most East Coast folks). He made it seem as though it was pretty easy to book at the other resorts at the 7 month window, except for the busiest times.
We walked over to the models and viewed the ones for Aulani and Animal Kingdom. We've stayed in Animal Kingdom Villas previously, but it was helpful to get a refresher. What caught my husband's eye? The model of a Tree House Villa at Saratoga. All of a sudden he was intrigued ... foreshadowing ....
Back to the Sales Center, and we're led to the Hard Sell/Closing Room. It looked like the Haunted Mansion ...
OK, just kidding - that's actually a photo of the first "room" they take you to. After the tour we went to a small conference room - kind of like those little rooms they take you to to Close the Deal when you buy a car.
Now it's time to learn all about how much our DVC Dream will cost. We were presented with the Double Whammy 20th Anniversary specials - Buy 100 pts at $130/pt, get 20 pts for "free" & get a full year's worth of points to start out - with the next 120 pts coming online Dec 2012. This deal ends Saturday - which is confusing, since we were told June 14th on the phone. And, I thought they were actually obligated to give you the current points - so I'm not exactly sure when it ends.
DH asked about buying Resale - our guide dismissed this notion since he didn't understand why anyone would want to purchase a restricted product. Maybe we'll want to go Disneyland Paris some day, or take a Cruise ... So why consider Resale? Enough said, we didn't push this button further. Overall, our Guide was very nice, and certainly didn't attempt any hard selling.
I did think twice before taking up their time with a DVC presentation, since I'd already researched Resale. However, my husband wanted to learn more, and we did go into the presentation with an open mind.
We declined the kind offer of ice cream, and were taken out to a waiting van for a trip back to BWI. That completes our visit to the DVC Sales Center. Do we sign on the bottom line before Saturday? Stay tuned for the answer...
_____________
Sharon
We stayed in the Hotel, with a water view room (there were no Boardwalk View Villas available for our last minute trip). So, why is this in the DVC section? Because the whole purpose was to checkout DVC, and also spend some time on the Boardwalk, since we've never visited this area. We usually stay at the Yacht Club or Beach Club, since Epcot is our favorite Park, but really haven't spent any time at the BWI. We wanted to see if purchasing DVC points at BWI was a good fit for us.
The Trip - we live in South Florida, so it's only a 2 hr drive to WDW. We left on Tuesday morning, after dropping off the dog for boarding - its the first time she's been boarded, so we'll see how this goes.
Gratuitous Puppy Photo
Arrival - We arrived at the Boardwalk at 1:30 pm. Checked in, room was ready - #5265. Room was fine for a 2 night stay - we liked the decor. Good view of the Yacht Club - pics 0f the view will come later. We did check out the location of the BWI villas, and it looks like the Boardwalk Views are nice.
Lunch and More - We wandered around the resort, and then had a quick lunch at Big River Grill. Nothing like starting off an investigative adventure with a couple of cold ones and a burger.
Visiting DVC Sales Center - After lunch, we visited the DVC satellite office where they have a 1 Bedroom BWI Villa set up for display. The Villa was fine, a little smaller than some of the others we've seen, but not an issue. After some chit chat, we agreed to head to the Real DVC sales center at Saratoga Springs. The nice folks escorted us out to catch a DVC van, which was brand new, and we were on our way.
Our driver was very friendly and we chatted comfortably on the way to SSR. Once there, we had some refreshing iced tea and waited just a few moments for our friendly Guide to appear.
The presentation was low key. While nothing was misleading, I was surprised at two things: 1) an almost total dismissal of the importance of Home Resort, and 2) a similar lack of consideration about Use Year. All the discussion centered around Animal Kingdom, since that's what they are selling now (our guide did say he occasionally talks to people who are interested in Aulani, but he realized that wasn't of interest to most East Coast folks). He made it seem as though it was pretty easy to book at the other resorts at the 7 month window, except for the busiest times.
We walked over to the models and viewed the ones for Aulani and Animal Kingdom. We've stayed in Animal Kingdom Villas previously, but it was helpful to get a refresher. What caught my husband's eye? The model of a Tree House Villa at Saratoga. All of a sudden he was intrigued ... foreshadowing ....
We do have fond memories of a previous stay in a Grand Villa at AKV Kidani.
Back to the Sales Center, and we're led to the Hard Sell/Closing Room. It looked like the Haunted Mansion ...
Now it's time to learn all about how much our DVC Dream will cost. We were presented with the Double Whammy 20th Anniversary specials - Buy 100 pts at $130/pt, get 20 pts for "free" & get a full year's worth of points to start out - with the next 120 pts coming online Dec 2012. This deal ends Saturday - which is confusing, since we were told June 14th on the phone. And, I thought they were actually obligated to give you the current points - so I'm not exactly sure when it ends.
DH asked about buying Resale - our guide dismissed this notion since he didn't understand why anyone would want to purchase a restricted product. Maybe we'll want to go Disneyland Paris some day, or take a Cruise ... So why consider Resale? Enough said, we didn't push this button further. Overall, our Guide was very nice, and certainly didn't attempt any hard selling.
I did think twice before taking up their time with a DVC presentation, since I'd already researched Resale. However, my husband wanted to learn more, and we did go into the presentation with an open mind.
What? We can't use Resale Points to pay for our next Cruise? Bummer.
We declined the kind offer of ice cream, and were taken out to a waiting van for a trip back to BWI. That completes our visit to the DVC Sales Center. Do we sign on the bottom line before Saturday? Stay tuned for the answer...
_____________
Sharon
This is the man who can't stand lines, and hates Florida humidity.
I was laughing to myself, since before the trip he wasn't really interested - and now he wants to buy two contracts 
