Did you buy on impulse or planned

[DieHardJoe]

Total impulse, but not without some knowledge. We had been to Disney many, many times with our daughters, and twice we had rented DVC points. But we really knew very little about DVC. In February, 2009 my oldest daughter suggested we go in to Boston to watch a demo (turns out it was to promote BLT), but it was really only supposed to be to see if could get any free stuff!! When the presentation was over, we never talked about doing anything, but my family was walking out to leave and I asked them where were they going. They kinda looked at me like, what do you mean? I asked them shouldn't we sit down and talk to someone? To make a long story short, we talked and bought 2 160 point contracts at a steep promotional discount and have never once questioned our decision (other than, as a couple folks may have mentioned - Why didn't we do this sooner!).

 

[DSLRuser]

Took the tour at OKW in 1995. Ran the numbers, and just decided we did not have enough disposable income, and with AP deals on rooms, it was a break even just renting rooms.

Took the tour again in 2005 at SSR. Ran the numbers and again decided, we did not have the money, and I could still find deals on rooms.

In January 2018 was talking with a buddy at our daughters soccer game about Disney. Next morning, was doing my taxes, and just decided. We have the money, there are no more deals on rooms. Called DVC, first person I spoke to, I said "I want to buy 175 points at Copper Creek". She tried to explain things to me, I just cut her off and said, "here is my Amex #, just sign us up". Very quick and painless.

 

[wdwdano@yahoo.com]

I purchased in 2007 when I was finishing graduate school. I new at the time that I was not going to buy a house in the Long Island Market because of all the inflation happening. It was just to much money to buy there before the crash of 2009. I wanted to reward myself for going above and beyond in college and getting my graduate degree. So I took the tour on my own on a trip down there. I thought about it for a couple of months and I decided to jump in. I used my disney visa and at the time they were going to match me up to a certain down payment. It worked out great. I recieved some advice when I was younger. I forget if I read it or heard it. "Do things that your future self would thank you for" So I did just that. I am now so grateful for the yesterday me. . I am not happy on the other hand about all the recent Disney money grabs. Disney is starting to really dissapoint me. I am also a stockholder also so I understand, however I think there are better ways to grab money. They could literally do anything creative and it would make money. I am now using my points as a home base. Once we are there we spend very little on the parks and we go shopping, try other theme parks and restaurants(idrive, winter garden, etc.) They just have to realize that it is a slippery slope when you have all this other entertainment just next door. We spend that extra 100 dollars per person on other companies and locations. Don't get me wrong I do and always love me some Disney but there is always a line that can be crossed. So now we go a couple days for parks and a couple for relaxing(resort hopping, pool, Disney Springs, Etc)

 

[Beachmom0317]

I consider us impulse buyers. I had always thought about buying in but DH and I seriously considered and researched it for about 3 weeks before buying a small contract direct. We had a trip booked two months later in early December so we were so excited to use our new points so quickly and at a deluxe resort instead of the value we booked at! Took full advantage of MS pulling strings for our welcome home since all studios for early December were booked up when we bought in October. They found a way to get us in!

 

[suebeelin]

I'm not talking about whether you thought threw it vs. buying immediately after a tour of DVC. More from the financial perspective. Did you get a big bonus and decide, okay we're gonna do it... or was it something you saved up for a long time over years?

Planned after staying cash at boardwalk. We decided we loved staying on property and it’s actual more economical buying DVC over cash rates... we bought resale

 

[NanaOsaki06]

Mine is impulse, for sure. I've been researching WDW and DVC for months now. DH has always thought my WDW obsession sort of weird. However, our son is on the spectrum and loves all things Disney. I can't see him really doing well on other vacations. We like staying deluxe, so going to WDW is always mega expensive. So I sat down, crunched the numbers, told DH, and he agreed. I called one day to see about getting wait listed for our desired resort and they happened to have points available for me at my 1st choice resort. Couple hours later I had them purchased.

 

[lisaviolet]

Planned. Would have been more of an impulse as I knew it was for me more than ten years before I purchased. Honestly, I dreamt of the possibility before DVC arrived.

Knew in the early/mid 90s, as soon as I saw the OKW signage. But was committed to paying upfront. Tours of BWV, VWL and BCV. Exciting and hard to take, at times questioning the waiting game.

But do not regret waiting. Honestly those years of delayed gratification are wonderful memories. Of course I had supreme envy but those years of wishing and dreaming are truly great to look back upon.

I remember staring up at BW rooms, with people relaxing on their balconies, thinking one day.

And then finally one day came.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Total impulse. The first time we ever thought about it was on our honeymoon in 2015 when a guide stopped us and asked if we would be interested in taking the tour. We listened to him for a few minutes, but we declined as we lived in a tiny apartment at the time. It would have been totally irresponsible. For our anniversary 11/2018, we went for what we thought would be our last time for a while due to the increase in cost. We took the tour just to gather information for the future with no plans at all to purchase. Poof, we walked out as members. So, yes, it was a spontaneous decision and we did not plan ahead financially, but we own our own home and vehicles so we didn't feel any less responsible by making that decision.

 

[Chrisizzle]

Impulse.

I am caught in a self imposed feedback loop of Disney upselling.

I had a trip planned in January. After tickets, Memory Maker, and tour discounts, I convinced myself I was over halfway paid to an Anual Pass and decided to get one.

Similarly, my January trip coincided with the RunDisney 10k. That was such a positive experience, I’ve decided to enter the Dopey Challenge next year. I’m doing all the other 2019 RunDisney events along the way as training.

With a similar logic, so many stays for marathons means I am halfway paid to a DVC membership and started looking. The enthusiasm of Pete Werner and the DisUnplugged shows didn’t help and I just put in a DVC offer after about a week’s worth of research/shopping around.

This will be ‘the year of Disney’ for me and I won’t be back for a while. I will want to travel elsewhere around the globe. However, I can see myself visiting Disney every 3 years which makes DVC’s bank/borrow system perfect for my travel cycle.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Impulse.

I am caught in a self imposed feedback loop of Disney upselling.

I had a trip planned in January. After tickets, Memory Maker, and tour discounts, I convinced myself I was over halfway paid to an Anual Pass and decided to get one.

Similarly, my January trip coincided with the RunDisney 10k. That was such a positive experience, I’ve decided to enter the Dopey Challenge next year. I’m doing all the other 2019 RunDisney events along the way as training.

With a similar logic, so many stays for marathons means I am halfway paid to a DVC membership and started looking. The enthusiasm of Pete Werner and the DisUnplugged shows didn’t help and I just put in a DVC offer after about a week’s worth of research/shopping around.

This will be ‘the year of Disney’ for me and I won’t be back for a while. I will want to travel elsewhere around the globe. However, I can see myself visiting Disney every 3 years which makes DVC’s bank/borrow system perfect for my travel cycle.

Makes sense!

We visit WDW approximately every other year, or at least that's been our pattern. However, we've purchased APs on two occasions because it made sense due to length of stay with the intention of only using the pass once. Low and behold, we ended up visiting a second time since I figured passes and accommodations were already paid for. Disney is smart!