Best Family Memory at DVC

[DavidRoss]

What is one of your best family memories at DVC?

I think mine is when I took my father to BWV for his first visit. It was a trip for the two of us. My wife and mother stayed home. After much arm twisting, I convinced my father to go. The look on his face when he walked into the one bedroom at BW was priceless. He couldn't believe how "perfect" everything was. But the memory part wasn't all that. It was when we left BW. My dad hugged me and started crying. He was so happy he had that time with me.

Of course, my father insisted we ride in the teacups together since we had done it 30 year ago when I was a little kid. You should have seen the look on the woman's face when we asked, "Can you take a picture of me and my dad in the teacups?" I think she almost fell over from laughter.

 

[AFMom]

Our last morning at OKW, the kids were up at the crack of dawn and there were ducks all over the grass in front of our patio. We got out the left over bread and spent the morning in our PJ's feeding the ducks. It was beautiful out there - little lake, sunrise - coffe under the ceiling fan... it was very hard to leave.

 

[Simba's Mom]

That's easy for me-our children are grown and gone, but when DS #1 graduated from college, we all went to OKW. I remember how fun it was that the CMs surprised him with balloons and a post card from Mickey. He even had his contract for his first job faxed to him at OKW. So it was a bittersweet trip-knowing that the day after we got home from the trip, he'd be packing up and moving 3 1/2 hours away. And one fun day, DS#2 and I took a video tour of whereever he wanted to go-it begins with video of me standing at the busstop at OKW, and his voice "Here comes the bus to MK and Mom and I are about to get on it".

 

[BWVDenise]

We went on the fishing excursion (in Epcot!) in June of last year and we still love talking about it. The kids get so excited when they remember who caught the biggest, the most, etc., and of course they love to rib Daddy who didn't catch any big ones that day! But the whole family has never had such a wonderful, happy day as that day. It truely is a memory that we will all treasure for a very long time to come.

 

[westjones]

When we stayed at HH and my kids found the 'paw prints' in the floor! They thought that was SO cool, and I knew only Disney could think up little extras like that.

Also, sharing a Kitchen Sink with my family at BCV! Priceless!

DJ

 

[jimmytammy]

There are so many wonderul memories of our stays, buthere are 2 that pop up right away.

1st trip, we had bought site unseen, pulling up into the front area of WL, we almost cried, realizing there had been no mistake in our purchase. Then we walk into the Lodge an all of us just look up in awe and amazement.

This past Oct we got to be the flag family at WL. That was extra special. Ranger Stan made the kids so much a part of the experience. He is a wonderful person and we look forward to seeing him again. The view from up there is breathtaking!

 

[officer tigger]

On our trip last year my oldest daughter was 3. Every time we left the BCV we had to stop and say good morning and good night to Ariel.
Rercently we were looking at the pictures and we came across one of her sitting next to Ariel. I said hi mermaid to the picture.

 

[gopherit]

In terms of "sheer numbers", our family reunion of 18 folks (9 adults, 9 kids) at OKW ranks pretty darn high. Split between a 2br and 2 studios, we would convene back at the 2br for evening meals and then "draw straws" to see who was on "Teen Patrol" (out in the parks with the 12-16 yr old kids) for the night! We had great pre-xmas week weather, lots of laughs and family time, and it was the first time our boys (ages 2 and 3) ever went to Disney -- just very special memories! My sister let DH and I have the master br of the 2 br... I'll never forget waking up xmas morning with those two little Disneyphiles between us in the king bed!

Which brings to mind a more recent memory of our last trip, wherein the kids came in from the pool and after their baths and watchingthe fireworks over DTD from our balcony, they somehow ended up in our bed, all 3 of them in the king bed! I took a photo of it -- it was just too sweet. DH and I seized the sleeper sofa in the living room -- VERRRY comfy, and with the twinkling lights of DTD as our "nitelite", it was a very nice "trade", indeed!

I also have a favorite photo of the 2 boys enjoying the jacuzzi tub during a particularly COLD January trip. To them, Disney ain't Disney without a pool, and yet with DVC and some imagination, we had our own personal pool in our 2 br villa, despite the weather!

 

[iluvdisney]

For me -it's the time early in the DVC days that we could get our room early - we were staying off-site the night before at a local hotel and dh and I got up before the kids and the family who would join us at OKW for a Christmas stay. DH and I went over to check in and got our room early, decorated it, and came back and woke everyone up for our trek over to OKW. When we arrived, the boys remarked that "Disney decorated the room and even gave us a tree" Of course, I was shocked that they didn't think of their parents having done it but I just remarked - "Well isn't that just like Disney to surprise us with a great room all set up for Christmas!" That was just one of my favorite early memories of the many visits to come at DVC.

 

[wills156]

Not a memory that has already happened, but one that we are looking forward to...

My wife and I just returned from WDW last week and purchased our membership into Saratoga Springs. This was our last vacation before our family grows from 2 to 3. We are flying to China this summer to bring our adopted daughter home to Texas.

We plan to use our points next year to bring our new daughter to WDW for the first time (she will be about 2 1/2 at the time). Both sets of grandparents are joining us, including my new FIL as he and my MIL were married this past weekend (a lot going on with our family this year!).

 

[WDWLVR]

I'd have to say that although all our trips have been great there have been two that really stand out in my mind.

First was on our first trip home in December of 2000. We booked a one bedroom at Boardwalk and got a boardwalk view. The balconies were decorated with these large lighted garlands and we had a perfect view of Spaceship Earth. After spending a fun day at the parks we were relaxing that first night on the balcony. Got to see the high fireworks from Illuminations that night and take a relaxing soak in the jacuzzi. We both knew that buying into DVC was one of the best things we ever did.

Second was the Member Cruise back in 2003. We had already been on 3 Disney cruises, but we knew the minute we walked into the terminal that this one would be special. There were so many little touches like Welcome Home everywhere (banners in the terminal, the atrium, even carved into the watermelons at the buffet!). Then at sailaway when they spoke about taking over the ship and hoisted the DVC flag - everyone was cheering. It was a wonderful 4 days spent with DVC family. We made some great friends on that trip and it's no wonder we booked the next DVC cruise as well!

 

[DavidRoss]

Now, This December, I get to take my mother. I will fill you all in on how that goes.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have had so many great Disney times at OKW and all our DVC trips, but one incident in particular came to mind imediately when I read this question. It was our second DVC trip and it was a very silly simple thing, but it was true Disney Magic for us.

DS (then about 20) and I went over to Fantasia Gardens while DH was working on some computer things for work back at the OKW villa. When we finished playing mini golf, DS and I went over to the Swan to catch a bus back to DTD and eventually OKW. We luckily caught the bus just as it was leaving the Dolphin, but before it picked up the Swan guests. The bus driver introduced himself as "crazy Jim" and proceeded to regale all of us with stories and humor. After the Swan stop, the bus was packed with several folks even standing in the aisle. Most of those were slightly enebriated press folks headed to more bars at DTD area. "Crazy Jim" had them going pretty good when he came to the stop light just before OKW. DS and I were sitting in the first front facing seat on the bus, and I nonchalantly said to my son, "I wish we could just walk from here". Jim overheard me and asked where we were walking to. I said OKW, and he said he thought he could give us a Disney Day if we didn't mind getting off at HH. He flipped his sign to "special" pulled into the OKW gate and let us off at HH before continuing on to DTD. It seems like a simple thing, but it made that whole trip!

 

[Disney Fanatic]

Gosh, our first trip as DVC members and already we have our favorite memory.

We were staying last week at VWL and my little guy wanted to ride the surrey bikes so badly. I had promised him all day and finally around 7pm we decided to go down for a quick ride.

When we got there the bike rental area was closed.

My DS was so upset.

A CM was walking towards us and asked my little guy what was wrong? We told him the story about the bikes and he asked if we would like to join him on a boat tour????

It turned out he was taking us on a boat tour ending with us in front of Magic Kingdom on the water watching Wishes!!!

We all felt like we were the luckiest people in the entire world!!!!!

Our fist trip as DVC members and memories to last a lifetime!

 

[GDUL]

I have lots of memories with my two daughters but I have a family memory that occurred last May. We had a family vacation that included my wife and I, our 2 daughters (one w/ husband and one w/ bf), and my 2 brothers and their families. My youngest brother has never been a Disney fan (as in "why would I go to WDW - there wouldn't be anything there that I would want to do!"). My SIL pretty much told him that he "was going" so that was it. All told, we had 13 people in a Grand Villa. After about 4 days of enjoying WDW, we were all out on the balcony one morning having breakfast ....... the sun was coming up, there was a mist over the pond, the kids were feeding the ducks and my youngest brother was just sort of gazing out over the property. He looked at my wife and I and said "you know, this is really cool - thanks so much for this....." It's hard to explain, but it was a pretty emotional moment - a great bonding moment for all 13 of us ...............

 

[jiggerj]

This is such a sweet thread! I have only made one DVC trip so far and I already have one very special moment to me. It was just me and my 6 yr old ds walking back to the villas after exploring the Lodge. We sat on the rockers at the front entrance to the Villas and just sat! Thats it just sat there! But we were surrounded by thesounds of the crickets, the flickering lights that lit the walkway to the Villas. Very quiet just the 2 of us. It was sooo peaceful. I asked my ds if he would like to go back to the room and then go swimming. I thought by this time he would be getting antsy to go, go go but he just looked at me, smiled and said "I could stay here forever...I just love you Mom"

I love DVC!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I think our favorite memory was last NYE at SSR. It was our last night and We sat on our patio and watched the PI Fireworks. The boys had milkshakes with sprinkles and Dh and I had champagne and we all toasted to a great year.

 

[chirona]

My favorite dvc vacation was in 1997 the last vacation my Dad took with the family. We stayed in the grand Villa nieces and nephews in laws. We all had a great time at the parks, just sitting around joking around. Its funny just 2 weeks ago I was watching the video of our vacation that year. The memories are all the more special since my Dad has since passed away. That was a special vacation.

 

[PinotFan]

We've only had one DVC vacation so far too (our second one is coming up next month a week after our daughter gets married). Our first one was to HH for Memorial Day weekend. Our oldest son had just graduated from college and was about to movel to NYC to work for a couple of years. DW and I took our three 'kids' and DD's fiance to HH so they could spend some time together before splitting up in three directions until the wedding.

My best memory was drinking wine and cooking dinner with my two sons while the others sat on the deck enjoying the marsh view. We cooked a seafood stew with local fish, shrimp and scallops (well, maybe they weren't locally caught, but they were locally bought!). It was a great recipe and we had a fabulous male bonding time.

 

[sheryl0521]

Also, sharing a Kitchen Sink with my family at BCV! Priceless!
DJ

I want to be sure to try that one this trip - I keep saying we will do it eventually.

My memory is taking a picture with the Ariel statue each trip to BCV - I have quite a few collected so far and I can see how the kids are growing up. Of course DH & I haven't changed a bit!