Addonitis - The Disease is Real

[SuzGM84]

Started looking at DVC at the beginning of 2017; started to seriously look at it/consider it during the summer of 2017; started putting in offers in November 2017; closed on our first contract in Feb 2018; sneaked in under the wire for the 25 point direct add-on in Feb 2018. And now its Aug 2018 and we're adding on ANOTHER contract.

DH called me crazy a year ago when I said we'd want to add on eventually. That whatever we started with, it won't be enough "forever" b/c we'll want to stay in larger rooms, bring family/friends, etc. A year later? He's the one saying we need 25 more; no we need 50 more! Makes me want to say I told you so SO BADLY!

 

[kniquy]

I think I have persuaded my husband into adding on at Poly -and I wasn't even trying. We did a spit at poly and AK (home resort) and the biggest portion of our trip that we keep talking about is the poly -there is just something about it that felt more homey and enjoyable compared to other resorts we have stayed at. So I keep saying we will have to add on there down the road. Just a small 75 point contract. I am the one who pretty much handles the finances and our previous DVC purchase, booking, MF etc -- so when it comes to an addon he just has to sign his name. So now that he has been bit by the poly bug I will just have to make his dreams come true. Such a good wife I am

 

[swanwed6206]

I saw this title and quickly asked my nurse DW what that disease is.... then it clicked for me... lol...

We have gone from 160 to 260 to 560... so know how you feel!

 

[DduzDis]

BWV calls to me, but alas I cannot fund the answer.....yet.

 

[cvjw]

It has passed for us. We got up to 815 points, and realized that we were only vacationing at Disney and paying over $5000 in dues each year.

We have scaled down our trips, sold some points and started taking Disney cruises. For us, the addiction to Disney is waning.

 

[Networth]

I completely empathize. We did a tour back in 2013 and my wife and I completely balked at the idea of a “timeshare”. Fast forward to December 2017 we do another tour of CCV “just for the fastpasses and $100 gift card”.

We did the math but have always stayed at the Grand in resort rooms so that is where we wanted to own. We placed a bid on a VGF contract in Jan 2018 and closed in March. Well studios are “too small” and we have the money so we are currently in ROFR for another VGF contract.

Next think you know my wife last night is looking at the grand villas at the GF and the cabins at CCV asking if we can buy more points in 1-2 years... yeah...

 

[gharter]

I don't think there is a cure, but the disease is fun. And we enjoy both contracts.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I don't think there is a cure, but the disease is fun. And we enjoy both contracts.

Oh, there is a big expensive cure. When that dues bill comes right after Christmas and you find out what you have to pay by Jan 15.

 

[rg35]

Not for us. In 2012 we bought exactly the # of resale points we needed for the room we needed to take one trip to Disney every year with our young kids. We like vacationing elsewhere and have no interest in multiple trips per year to WDW. After 5 years in a row we're actually taking this year off completely from Disney and will do a longer trip next year.

If we have extra points and can bank to bring family some years, that's a nice extra (my parents will probably come with us next year), but I'm not planning on running a vacation business/charity for friends and family.

A lot of "addonitis" seems to be a result of not buying exactly what was needed to start with. And that's OK - perhaps a function of finances or whatever. In some cases, perhaps not having a realistic discussion about what is wanted/needed. But owning tons of contracts and points near or greater than the thousands I don't really understand. I'm sure there are some people who really need Grand Villas or whatever, but I also have a difficult time imagining wanting to take more than one trip per year to Disney - there's a lot of other stuff in the world to see and do.

 

[Matty B13]

Yeah, we thought we would be good with 150 points and going every other year, and now we are in ROFR for 50 points more, bringing our total to 420 points.......

Funny what a 2 bedroom at VGF will do to your heart and make you not listen to your head.......... but my girls love the resort with the penguins

 

[Jperiod]

We've been going to Disneyland for so long, both before and after kids, that we knew exactly what we needed to buy, but alas, it's like finding a unicorn, resale at VGC. So we settled for a loaded contract that is "good enough" to bank/borrow for a while and leaves us open to buying more there or at another resort. The addonitus flares every time we read the updates on Star Wars land or talk of another DVC at Disneyland! For us, the more we experience Disney, the more we WANT to experience Disney! We go elsewhere too, but we ALWAYS go to Disney.

 

[Bing Showei]

I'm sure there are some people who really need Grand Villas or whatever, but I also have a difficult time imagining wanting to take more than one trip per year to Disney - there's a lot of other stuff in the world to see and do.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Over the previous two years (prior to DVC) we found ourselves at WDW 3 times. Over this next year alone, with DVC, we’ll be there another three times. When one feels there are more “cost-effective” opportunities to go, as DVC is designed to make one feel (by way of APs, pre-paid points vs $s, etc.), most find themselves wanting to go more often, hence needing more points. This is the system by design, not necessarily indicative of a failure to properly assess needs initially.

Personally, I agree whole heartedly that there are other places in the world worth going to see before that extra trip to WDW. In fact, my wife has a deal in place that for every WDW trip we do, she gets one that requires a passport, but even she will readily admit that WDW makes vacationing sooooo easy.

WDW is a nice mindless few days of escapism. And given what life can throw at you, I have trouble faulting anyone for wanting to escape every now and then.

 

[pineapplepalms]

We loved going to Disney before kids and now we love it even more since it makes traveling and having an amazing vacation with kids so easy. We bought enough for 2-3 weeks in a 2BR depending on when we go and where we stay (those VGC rooms are pricey!) and I'm still a bit tempted to add on another contract (likely VGC or VGF), but haven't pulled the trigger since we already have more than enough points for now. I can definitely understand wanting to limit points in order to still vacation elsewhere. We plan to vacation elsewhere 2-3 weeks out of the year in addition to our Disney trips, especially as the kids get older and we do more international travel. With baby #2 still in my belly, Disney trips are just easier and better for us at this stage. We're taking a bit of a break from travel now which means we'll have a good number of points to play with for our next trip - can't wait to stay in the CCV cabins! That's probably a trigger for addonitis though

 

[Mumof4mice]

A lot of "addonitis" seems to be a result of not buying exactly what was needed to start with. And that's OK - perhaps a function of finances or whatever. In some cases, perhaps not having a realistic discussion about what is wanted/needed. But owning tons of contracts and points near or greater than the thousands I don't really understand. I'm sure there are some people who really need Grand Villas or whatever, but I also have a difficult time imagining wanting to take more than one trip per year to Disney - there's a lot of other stuff in the world to see and do.

Must find a way to tag on a visit to the Kennedy Space Centre...

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Over the previous two years (prior to DVC) we found ourselves at WDW 3 times. Over this next year alone, with DVC, we’ll be there another three times. When one feels there are more “cost-effective” opportunities to go, as DVC is designed to make one feel (by way of APs, pre-paid points vs $s, etc.), most find themselves wanting to go more often, hence needing more points. This is the system by design, not necessarily indicative of a failure to properly assess needs initially.

Personally, I agree whole heartedly that there are other places in the world worth going to see before that extra trip to WDW. In fact, my wife has a deal in place that for every WDW trip we do, she gets one that requires a passport, but even she will readily admit that WDW makes vacationing sooooo easy.

WDW is a nice mindless few days of escapism. And given what life can throw at you, I have trouble faulting anyone for wanting to escape every now and then.

This. WDW offers a super easy vacation to just relax, ride the 3 fast passes and watch a show. It's a well executed and well priced product ($450/10 day pass = less than $5 per hour of entertainment).

We were lucky to have done a lot of traveling before children. A typical vacation pre-kids involved Gortex boots, cold weather gear, car hire, multiple flights, street clothes for hard to book restaurants, shows, museums and walking tours. Great memories.

The thought of such a vacation with 4 children? I'm exhausted and I haven't even finished packing yet. Not to mention the kids would grow out of their Gortex boots before the plane even lands, airlines lose my prams and car seats, Hertz fails to reserve the van I booked months prior, and countries that do not mandate disable access in public premises just can't be done with prams. We did manage Whistler when we only had two kids. But I needed a vacation after that trip!​

 

[Chrisvee]

I’ve added on 5 times. Someone needs to stop me.

 

[ajjonesehc]

It's definitely real. We are about to close on our 3rd and 4th contracts. We started with a contract at Poly, and that is perhaps not the best place for us. Thus 3 additional contracts at BLT. Just yesterday I found myself taking a hard look at another March BLT contract...

 

[brnrss34]

I too want more points. I own at AKV and now want to be able to stay in bigger rooms or for longer. Maybe I will be able to add on next year when I have more money. BLT calls me. Or perhaps when StarWars hotel comes out?

 

[rg35]

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Over the previous two years (prior to DVC) we found ourselves at WDW 3 times. Over this next year alone, with DVC, we’ll be there another three times. When one feels there are more “cost-effective” opportunities to go, as DVC is designed to make one feel (by way of APs, pre-paid points vs $s, etc.), most find themselves wanting to go more often, hence needing more points. This is the system by design, not necessarily indicative of a failure to properly assess needs initially.

Personally, I agree whole heartedly that there are other places in the world worth going to see before that extra trip to WDW. In fact, my wife has a deal in place that for every WDW trip we do, she gets one that requires a passport, but even she will readily admit that WDW makes vacationing sooooo easy.

WDW is a nice mindless few days of escapism. And given what life can throw at you, I have trouble faulting anyone for wanting to escape every now and then.

There are few people I know who love Disney more than me. Don't be mistaken, I absolutely love going to WDW. I may enjoy it more than our kids do. I'm probably the most disappointed that we're not going this year. I waited until the last possible minute to bank our points because I kept trying to figure out how to squeeze in a trip (unfortunately my new job has a crummy vacation policy, wheras my last one had unlimited time off, so that really meant things wouldn't work out).

But I also think there can be a line of doing things too much. Our kids are "Disney adults" now too, which means our next trip will cost more. Flying five people from NYC to MCO is between 2000-2500 (and I also hate flying, so we have started driving down). If we lived further south I could see us going more often...but multiple trips don't make sense for a lot of logistical reasons right now.

I guess what I see in a lot of descriptions of "addonitis" is mostly a lack of self control. Sometimes it's OK to say no to yourself.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I always intended to buy 2-3 contracts. Many of the knowledgeable folks here talked me out of trying to juggle 3. So far, I only have 1.

For me, I think any addonitis would be just because of the desire to stay at multiple resorts in studios. It was hard enough booking 2 studios at BWV at 11 months. I can't imagine trying to switch things around at 7 months. So, I have this nagging desire to own at every resort Of course, we will typically only take one trip per year, so that would be awfully hard to manage without being in the "rental business". So, I will have to suck it up and make a decision on a MK resort to buy and be done with it (I suppose).

Sigh.

 

[TCRAIG]

I’ve got Addonitis bad with no cure in sight. Just the hubs and me with 7 home resorts and over 1000 points and I’d love to have 50 more of this and 85 of that....and maybe BWV - maybe Riviera when it becomes available...