Active Duty/Retired Military DVC Experiences?

[LIFERBABE]

Welcome Home Neighbor!!

We may do the weekend at SOG on our trip in June. We are cruising and used most of our points. I hate moving, but if we want to make the most of our stay and our AP's we need to stay at SOG next trip.

 

[bags6490]

Congrats on your new "home"! We looked at OKW when it was still being finished but decided not to buy because we could stay at SOG cheaper. Well, 3 kids later we were kicking ourselves for not buying way back when. SOG is fine if you have 2 kids, but with 3 little ones (6,2 and 1) we found it just didn't work (especially at nap time). So we took the DVC plunge about 6 months ago and are glad we did it. Having the extra space is awesome and having a washer and dryer are necessary with kids that age.

our three disney princesses

 

[drakethib]

Hi... First wade into to DVC Board pool!

I am an Active Duty Naval Officer considering purchasing DVC (either through resale or direct from Disney), looking for feedback from any DVC members with military affiliation that could comment on their view of whether DVC is flexible enough for the military lifestyle---deployments/PCSs/short notice TDYs.

Also, though I appreciate that most members of these boards are "true believers," would appreciate critical comment on the financial merits of DVC vs. staying at Shades of Green---which already offers significant savings over the Disney Resort family. Ditto comparisons of whatever discounts DVC members receive vs. those offered to Active Duty and Retired through Morale, Welfare, and Recreation programs.

We are considering resale at BWV in addition (or in opposition) to SSR through Disney... I think childhood vacations at the Jersey "Shore" left their mark.

In advance, thanks for all input. My wife and I are considering a 300ish point buy, and don't want to get this wrong.

Let me say a few things.

1. Thank you for serving our country. You guys (and ladies0 arent told that enough.

2. While Shades of Green isn't a theme based resort, don't sell it short by any means. I have been out of the Army for a while and I am a DVC member, but if I was allowed I would stay at Shades of Green again without thinking twice. There are also some discounts on the Tickets (well there used to be anyway) for the military.

Hope this helps.

 

[dianeschlicht]

CONGRATULATIONS & WELCOME HOME!

 

[Hillbilly]

Well,
I stayed at the Shades of Green in March 2004 with my Dad who is a retired marine. You can't beat the price and I loved having the Palm and Magnolia right outside my patio. The bus transportation was very new when we went and I can say that was the only downer about SOG.

We bought a resale at BCV for 200 points. I would say that along with buying into a deluxe resort you can still take advantage of cruises, 5 star hotels in many parts of the world. I think this is what really makes the DVC special. The shades of Green is plenty nice for me, so if we're talkin value I'd go with that. If you would like staying at the different deluxe resorts with the above mentioned flexability then DVC might be for you. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

 

[Y-ASK]

I think you did right by making the purchase now. If it doesn't work out for you then you can just start renting your points out each year and you can rent borrowed points so that you don't have to rent that often. Use the cash to pay the maint. fees from year to year and pay off the loan (if you have one) with what's left over. I've done the numbers and it looks like if you rent all your points every year, the timeshare will have paid for itself in about 7 to 8 years at which time you may be flying a desk and have a little more flexablitiy.

Go Army!
Y-ASK

 

[JodyTG]

I just want to make one other point that doesn't look like it was mentioned before. If you get to a point where it use-it-or-loose-it for your points, you can always put 160 points into a World Passport Collection trade and the points can stay there for up to 2 years. 160 points will give you a week during high season in resorts all over the world. I haven't done a trade but this is also something that you can do with "distressed" points.

 

[adrianna_sarah]

Bumping for the husband!