Did anyone buy DVC without staying there first?

[Debi]

I didn't stay in a villa before buying. I had been considering DVC for a long time before purchasing, so when I was ready to buy, I walked to BWV (was staying at the Dolphin at the time), did a walk through of the model, scheduled a tour for the next day, and signed the papers when we did the tour. Best decision I ever made!

 

[Laneychris]

We bought AKV without staying there.

 

[alice99]

WE bought @ BLT after taking the tour, while staying off property,

 

[ottboy3]

We have stayed at WDW but never at a DVC property. I always wanted to stay at Boardwalk but it was usually out of our price ranger. When we decided to buy a resale we planned on taking the tour on our planned trip that year. We ended up finding a resale that looked good to us a lot sooner than December so we just went ahead and bought. Guess we will see how it turns out!

 

[sdedalus]

We purchased OKW in 1993. The incentives allowed you to apply the cost of your cash stay to the purchase price. We did the tour and signed before we took our room. We added on at HHI without having seen the resort. We were not disappointed.

 

[Tinkerbelljean]

We joined site unseen, but we had been visiting WDW for years. After a trip in which we had a bad experience with transportation and a bad room at a non-Disney timeshare, I came back, called DVC for info and purchased. Also, the boys were at the age where they could go off on their own at Disney if we were staying on property.
After staying at many of the WDW properties, I debated whether I should add points to our SSR contract or buy a resale contract. I added points, but still might buy a resale. (I have not stayed at SSR for several visits, new resorts to try)

We have not run out of family members who want us to take them to "Disney," and have frequent inquires from local people who want to "rent" my points.

Depending on who is on the trip and the reason for the trip,different resorts work better for us. Also, now with a son in college, the ability to book 11 months in advance for our non-home resort is becoming an issue so I might buy a resale at a different resort so I can book 11 months in advance there. As the family changes and new resorts open, our needs and likes change, but we use all of our points every year and could use more. We have moved several times and it seems we meet our old friends, and old neighbors at WDW. We have a nephew who just recently graduated from college and is a pilot for a major airline. If he can get time off, he joins us for a few days at WDW when he can.

In addition, my hubby had a mild heart attack in his mid-forties, cause unknown. It was strongly suggested that he take regular vacations. He is now in his early 50's. He is not big on the parks, likes the Health Clubs, and just likes to relax in a nice room and read. It is pretty stress free for us to fly to Orlando, take Magic Express to the "World" and fly back. No rental car, we know what to expect in the room and no worries, and for a brief time, no snow. He sleeps, reads, works out and we can eat healthy in the room and in the restaurants. Just what the Dr. ordered. Since it is prepaid, we HAVE to go. No workaholic excuses for not going.

In short, works out great for us.

 

[Compte de Yoyo]

It may be too soon to tell but no regrets and we're looking into picking up some more points the next year or two at both BLT!

 

[bblanch]

We bought a BCV resale never having seen the resort or any other DVC resorts.

Have been on 3 DVC trips now and still haven't stayed at BCV.

 

[Splat25]

Like many others, we took the tour at Disney. We went to Animal Kindom Lodge to have Dinner At Bomas and decided it would work well for our family. We bought AKV without having stayed there and BLT the same way.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We bought 150 pts at BWV resale without ever having stayed there or ever seeing it. In fact the only place we had ever even stayed on property was at All Star Movies.

Now we bought 250 points at BLT without seeing the models.

 

[jblrn2b]

Hello fellow MAer!!! We bought at AKV without even staying at AKV or another DVC resort. We bought because we were spending a mint at the Poly. We were at SSR Feb vacation wk and went to AKV for dinner at Jiko the last night we were there and boy are we glad we bought at AKV - we walked around the resort with our jaws wide open and can't wait for our next trip!!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We never stayed in a DVC villa before we bought. We bought even though there were and we still have reservations about some of the accomodations. I do not like having a double sleep sofa "count" as being able to sleep 2 for instance. We bought because we like staying on WDW property, we enjoy having amenities like a small kitchenette and a balcony when DH and I go to WDW together, and we like having an apartment to share with the extended family and guests when we go to WDW with a group. We have bought points at the DVCs that we enjoy the most, BWV, VWL, AKV and BCV.

We bought VB after we stayed there. One visit was all it took to convince us that it was the oceanfront property that we just had to have!!!

Bobbi

 

[keishashadow]

yes

all it took was a week in the ASMo (twirling groups combined with President's Day weekend) to see the light

couldn't get home fast enough to buy resale

 

[naf917]

We bought at SSR through resale without every seeing the resort or taking the tour.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Have any of you bught DVC without staying in a Villa? We're a little nervous, but also don't want to waste money on another trip if we are going to buy.

We had seen the resorts (VWL, AKV and HHI) many times but had not actually stayed in a DVC room before we bought. I don't imagine most people have as you're talking about either renting points or paying rack rates through CRO, which are very expensive.

 

[JackandSally79]

We also bought without staying in a villa.

 

[Susan C]

We bought DVC while on the DCL... my husband found the deals on ship to be excellent. We love the rooms at SSR.

 

[KingdomJack]

We bought at BCV without staying there. We know we wouldn't have buyers remorse if we bought there and felt we could more easily resell BCV if we wanted to purchase somewhere else later. GL!