Based on the posts here, DVC should change their motto from "Welcome Home" to...

[Granny]

Originally posted by dvcreg
It's a wonderful system, no matter when you joined and which resort(s) you call "home."

Well said, Regina.

 

[DVCajun]

I'm sure the rest of you feel as I do, that we'd be DVCers even if we had no choice of resorts!! I'm sure if I was one of the original OKW members I'd be a diehard OKWer. Alas, the Boardwalk forever holds my heart.

sigh.

I wanna go home.

 

[sueg]

We bought in '93 when it was just OKW. We really weren't aware of DVC before that so we couldn't have bought earlier. But prior to our purchase, we had two top-of the line trips(i.e. we surely overpaid) Both were white glove packages thru AmEx with the golden key food plan. We stayed at the Poly and YC . They were wonderful trips & we really ate ourselves silly to maximize the food plan. I'll always cherish those memories, but when I think about the number of points that we could have owned for the $$$ we spent, I do feel a twinge of regret.

 

[Peter Johnson]

Originally posted by dvcreg
Hey!!!! What about us highly intelligent, insightful members who had the foresight to join before OKW even opened???

How about "Welcome Home" for me, and "You Snooze You Lose" for everyone else???

Well, we can't beat you, but we're close. I have my DW to thank for dragging me kicking and screaming to the "stupid timeshare presentation" in March 1992, while we were staying at PO. Two months later we came back for Memorial Day weekend to sign up and spend our first weekend "Home"

We still have the "balloon" photo on display

(Y'know, DVCReg, we should've kept this to ourselves... it was sooo quiet & peaceful at OKW back then, before all these newbies showed up )

 

[Lesley]

Yes, those pioneers of DVC sure did get a great deal! Wow....

Those are totally jealous bouncy smilies!

But at the time, the investment had to have seemed just a little risky....and you were compensated well for being willing to take that risk. Good for you!

 

[sgtdisney]

Honestly, it really didn't seem risky to me.. We had been going to Disney World for years and The Walt Disney Company was, and still is very respected. I figured if any company was going to be on the up and up, it would be Disney as they had a lot to lose if they tried to pull one over on the consumer. As for only having one resort, that was fine with me.. In 10 years we have only stayed at OKW. We love it.. Before DVC we usually stayed in what is now known as the Villas at Disney Institute which was also a little more remote and secluded. We enjoyed and still enjoy vacationing that way.

 

[Pam Lau]

After sitting through several competitors presentations (usually for the giveaways) we said "Before we ever buy a timeshare we would check out Disney." Little did we realize in 1999 when we went to the Boardwalk and recieved their no pressure presentation that we would be back in 48 hours to purchase. We really did not think we were in a position to buy, but when we thought about the fact that we were always budgetting money for our next trip that we may as well use that money to pay on a monthly basis and when it is all paid off we will be even happier. It definitely was a good deal. Since we never really looked into it sooner, we can not kick ourselves for not purchasing earlier. It still looked like a good deal when we got in.
We have ressies to return in November and again in March.

 

[Granny]

My only consolation in all this is in 5-10 years, we'll look like the smart ones who bought in with 40 years still left in the DVC!! We'll have 10 years of great vacations under our belts (just like the DVC Pioneers do now) and will be the grizzled veterans that others will be jealous of!

But until then, IWIHBS!!

 

[OKW91]

We bought into the DVC in December 91, I remember on the flight home thinking had I made the right move or not! But I believe they gave 30 days to refund your depoist if you didn't like it. We took are first trip in January of 92, and from there on it was nothing but can we get more points!! I only wish I could have made this good of a decision in the stock market!!!!

 

[Richyams]

I guess this is turning into a thread for those that bought early to brag, OK.

Sept '92

I remember them being done, or close to it with the 23-26 bldgs and you could see lots of construction when you stood on the boardwalk and looked across the lake. I remember our first stay in '93 seeing how many more bldgs were done and how you could only see one bldg under construction, the rest of the building was being done further back, not visable from the road.

That put me completely at ease. If these things weren't selling, they surely would have stopped or at least slowed down the building.

We did certainly get a good dea,l the free tickets were actually worth more than we paid to buy in INCLUDING OUR ADD ON!!!

We figure that we pre-paid for eight year's worth of passes and they threw in 430 points for free!