Chicago Preview Center - worth the drive?

[dheinle]

Hello, 2 years ago I was all set to buy DVC, but my wife was not. Neither one of us was impressed or fell in love with SSR.

We just came back from a week at the world and on the last day my wife and daughter were at downtown Disney and decided to go to a DVC presentation. My son and I were at the MK and didn't go.

Anyways, my wife is now in love with the new rooms at AKV. She says I have to see them and she is excited to buy.

My questions is this. We live outside of St Louis and the Chicago preview center is only about a 4 hour drive away. Is it worth the drive to see the rooms there? Do they look the same at the ones down at the world? I would like to see them as well before we buy.

Thanks
Dennis

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Found this link on-line. It has a video that shows the "Doorway to Dreams" in Chicago's mall. It also gives you a quick peak at the room itself and should give you a good idea if you'd like to make the trip or not. Personally, if you've never heard the DVC pitch before and want to talk with them about trades, points, price, etc., it's nice to speak with someone in person. However, I think the virtual tour on-line will give you just as much info on the room as you'll need. Also, I think you can sign up on-line for someone to call you to discuss DVC. That may be another option to consider.

Best wishes and it sounds like we'll be welcoming you guys home really soon!

http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/miniSite/doorwayToDreams?id=DoorwayEventsPage

 

[El&Asmom]

We purchased points at the opening of DTD. We are chicago suburbanites, so it was only a 15min drive.
I don't think I would drive 4 hours to go to the store. The front area is pretty small, and they have a true to size 1bd villa there to walk around. Yes it is cool to see, but not necessarily worth a 4 hour drive.
You can also go to the DVC website to take a virtual tour of the rooms which I think gives the same effect.

If you want to make a weekend of it and take in the rest of the city, it may be worth it.

 

[famsen]

If you coming in to the Chicago area to do something other than just visit Doorway to Dreams for an hour, then it's definately worth it. Seeing the actual room makes all the difference. I had held off buying DVC for over 10 years but with the addition of the Doorway to Dreams store just 10 minutes from my house and the fact that we were given an upgrade to SSR on our last visit, I was sold.

 

[mjy]

My questions is this. We live outside of St Louis and the Chicago preview center is only about a 4 hour drive away. Is it worth the drive to see the rooms there? Do they look the same at the ones down at the world? I would like to see them as well before we buy.

Answer: NO!

I do not think it would be worth a four hour drive, especially with traffic and cost of gas.

However, if you were planning on coming up to the Chicago area for some other reason, it would definitely be worth adding the preview center to your itinerary.

The room is very nice and is the same as the one you would see down in Florida. But the four hour drive, to me, just doesn't cut it.

I went on the Grand Opening for DVC members. It was only an hour drive for me from Northwest Indiana and I thought that was enough.

 

[TLPL]

hey how far is it from the Chicargo airport? I have a 4 hours lay over at Chicargo airport this coming Monday and I would like to see the model myself. Any idea?

 

[mjy]

hey how far is it from the Chicargo airport? I have a 4 hours lay over at Chicargo airport this coming Monday and I would like to see the model myself. Any idea?

This was taken from Expedia. With traffic and the like, it could be longer than 22 minutes, depending upon the time of day and day of the week of your layover. However, here is the rough estimate:
Search Results
From: ORD [Chicago O'Hare International Airport] (airport), Chicago, Illinois, United States
To: Woodfield Mall (shopping center), Schaumburg, Illinois, United States

Total Route13.8 mi 22 mins

 

[WDWLVR]

Woodfield Mall where Doorway to Dreams is located can be a destination in and of itself if you are into shopping and a variety of resturants. Much like Mall of America without the theme park inside.

If seeing the models is important to you and you won't be visiting WDW again soon it might be worth it to you to make the drive up. There isn't much to the store itself and unless you make time to sit down with a rep you could be out in as little as 5 minutes.

However if you really thing you want to buy and you want to see the rooms in person than plan a weekend of it. Come on up and enjoy the mall and all it has to offer. Both the mall and Doorway to Dreams have websites that will help in your decision.

Good luck!

 

[cgcw]

hey how far is it from the Chicargo airport? I have a 4 hours lay over at Chicargo airport this coming Monday and I would like to see the model myself. Any idea?

Personally, I wouldn't attempt it, but I'm not much of a gambler.

The layover you have is on Christmas Eve? Woodfield Mall traffic is horrendeous at this time of year. It can easily take 45 minutes to get off of the highway near the mall as traffic is all backed up trying to exit. It's a very busy area this time of the year. We avoid it at all cost. Good thing we live on the other side of Schaumburg.


I agree with those who suggested taking the virtual tour. Unless you have some other reason to come up to the mall, 4 hours is a big drive (8 round trip) to see what the Doorway to Dreams has to offer.


Keep in mind also, until all construction is done at AKL, there is a chance that if you stay there, you won't be in one of the new villas. When we were there last month, we were in a 1 bedroom which is very different in layout that the models. Just something to think about.

 

[CarrianneB]

I agree with the previous posters. If you are there, or close, its worth it. But not four hours

I go on a yearly holiday shopping trip from Wisconsin to a craft show then on to Woodfield, and it was definitely worth me putting time aside. But I wouldn't drive for it unless that is the last major item in your decision - AND the sign up deal was worth it.

I actually bought on the DCL, and didn't see the model until 6 weeks later.

Carrianne

 

[TLPL]

Oh ok, I will not even try then. It's just that we bought DVC on the phone we never ever seen the room before. It was just an idea

 

[dheinle]

Ok, thanks for all the responses. My brother in-law lives in Bloomington and we were thinking of taking a trip up to see him and then go to Ikea in Chicago. I guess we'll do it all in one weekend.

Dennis

 

[dznyacct]

I have to agree with other posters that it is not worth a four hour drive solely for that purpose. I was on a bus shopping trip to Woodfield Mall in November, so of course I had to check it out . I had a nice long conversation with a DVC CM . I had not seen the AKV rooms at WDW, so it was really nice to see them in person. We are VWL owners and have stayed at AKL in the past. We had hoped that a DVC resort would be built at AKL. We bought sight unseen when sales for VWL opened up in late 1999. I too think that the on-line resort tour will give you a good idea of the room layout.