Do Comments Made on the DVC Board "Make or Break" your DVC Experience

[Johnnie Fedora]

Just wondering if comments on this board affect your DVC experience positively or negatively? Personally, I find most of the information here helpful, and a fun way to feed our households favorite passtime....DVC trip planning. Others have indicated that posts here have led to unreal expectations, or taken the shine off their DVC planning fun.

My DVC experience has never been swayed to the point of over-enthusiasm or extreme-disappointment by comments made here. However, I have appreciated all the help and pointers I've received from my fellow DVC fans. How about you?

 

[timC]

This board really helped me when I was buying (way back in 1999).... but now the board is simply a fun diversion in between trips!

Now... If you asked about the restaurant board, that's another story. I use that board all the time to help plan meals.

 

[JimC]

This forum was very helpful when we were considering our first purchase. I still learn a lot and enjoy my time on these Boards. There are very many helpful and interesting people who post to these Boards.

 

[BWVDee]

I was already a DVC member and I was also already very familiar with all the WDW resorts and their pros, cons etc., well before I discovered this discussion board. So for me, the DVC board has always been a fun diversion. It is also the source of up to date DVC news, most times well in advance of the DVC newsletter.
But as for opinions here effecting my DVC experiences--not in the least. I have been a DVC member since BWV opened, so we are very familiar with the DVC resorts and with the lay of Mickey land in regards to which experiences we like.
I seem to gain the best tips and opinions-- that I use; from the restaurant, budget, cruise line, collectors and resort (for AP discounts) boards.

 

[msdis]

I like the information but the personal effects are the same as opinions. Things happen, life is not perfect, and anything that comes close is close enough.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

In many cases the posts here help you know what to look for or look out for. That helps the experience.

HBC

 

[jaysue]

Without these boards, I do not think I would have bought DVC or at least I would have been an uniformed buyer - this alone puts my vote into the informative category

Maybe some day forward the vote will move to the fun and factual but for now it remains pegged to the top

thanks
jaysue

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
In many cases the posts here help you know what to look for or look out for. That helps the experience.

HBC

Exactly. That is just what I was going to say!

MG

 

[DebbieB]

I don't worry too much about negative comments about a specific person's experience. I keep them in mind but don't let them effect my experiences. I think the key thing I have learned is if there is a problem, handle it right there. Don't come home and complain about it if you didn't say anything while you were there. In 8 DVC trips (4 OKW, 4 BWV), little has happened that dampened my experience that could be controlled by DVC. The only thing I could think of is I was disappointed on my first trip to BWV when we didn't get the BW view when I made the res at 11 months. They offered to move us later but I didn't want to once we had groceries, etc. I resolved that by booking standard view the next 3 years.

 

[anniet]

Nope---comments here don't make or break us.

As a matter of fact I remember a thread bemoaning the handicapped units and I couldn't understand at all why people were so upset.

Then on our wedding night we got a hc unit for the first 5 nights of our honeymoon, and I thought "Hey this isn't bad at all!" Then we ran into the realities of no shelf space, and dh fell out of bed one night (from a sound sleep and he hit the floor with a bang) because the bed was low and the mattress and base didn't line up right. THAT broke our experience- but it wasn't the comments at all.

 

[KNWVIKING]

I tend to take everything I read here with a grain of salt and rarely let it influence the outcome of my trip. That doesn't mean I don't appriciate the info, but in most cases I want to judge things for myself. Of course, if all posters agree that X restaurant stinks, chances are I'll take your word for it and not waste my money.

 

[jmminarik]

I learned long before, when this here contraption called the 'Internet' was known by only college students, research labs and the defense department, that anecdotal experiences and personal opinions on line don't usually sync up with my tastes in life. For me, the factual information (OKW's getting a slide) and insider information (buy where you want to stay, not where the guides are pushing/there's a "side" exit from BCV to epcot/etc) is the heart and soul of my DIS experience. Oh, and the occasional religion war over resort size/room size/resort amenities/how long the darn hallways are everywhere but OKW give me something to do when I can't handle reality at work.

-Joe

 

[jarestel]

I like to hear opinions from others because it's fun to talk about DVC, but someone else's good or bad review of a certain thing doesn't affect me. Everyone's tastes are not the same so I like to experience things personally and draw my own conclusions.

 

[Granny]

Interesting poll Johnnie....I voted that the boards enhance my overall DVC experience (first choice above). At first, I focused in on the "facts only" threads, but find that I enjoy reading others opinions, even if they conflict with my own.

Also, I enjoy the speculation threads...some are kind of fantasy (put a DVC club in the Caribbean?) and some are business related (what will happen in 2042?), but all are enjoyable.

As others have noted, these boards were immense help when I was deciding on membership.

 

[wdwstar]

the dis-board is fun reading, and i did learn a few things that i would have never known if it wasnt for reading the diboard. thanks dis !

 

[sgtpet]

I have to say I enjoy the comments from everybody on this board. I would not find as useful information anywhere else when it comes to DVC. I think we all add value to the planning experience.

My DVC experiences are impacted by the joy I see in my son's face the first time he sees Mickey Mouse on the trip. The joy my daughter has with all the excitement at such a young age. My wife and I as we recall the joys we had at WDW over the years and now with our children. The relaxation of staying at any of the fine DVC resorts. I can go on and on.

 

[vernon]

I think the boards can useful in "expectation management" but one has to realise that an individual "problem" doesn't reflect an endemic problem. Coupled with taking note of potential problems, one has to understand that people are much more likely to voice a bad experience than a good one. IMHO if you get 5 bad reports to 2 good ones the chances are that more people have good experiences to bad.

Information is useful, no matter it's source, as long as it is consistant. With the wide range of expectations and varierty of backgrounds, if you read the totality of experiences on these boards you can get a pretty reasonable " Plimsoll line" of overall expectation. How your own personal level reflects to the general expectation is usually, IMHO, pretty consistant.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Originally posted by sgtpet
I have to say I enjoy the comments from everybody on this board. I would not find as useful information anywhere else when it comes to DVC. I think we all add value to the planning experience.

This board is a wonderful resource, I'm very glad it's available. There's many, many very helpfiul people willing to answer questions, even ones that have been asked many, many times. I think we are very welcoming to new members here.

In the past there have been some who have gotten caught up in resort bashing, which probably isn't good, but otherwise there's all kinds of great tips and helpful information I wouldn't otherwise know. The rumors and posts about selling Vero and HH weren't fun to read, there are posters who have been attacking those two offsite resorts for a very long time.

For instance, I didn't realize there was a variety of pillow softnesses in each room so that guests have a choice. I wouldn't have known about the Bike and Boat plan, a wonderful option when my kids get older. We'll probably stay at WLV sometime just to take advantage of that option. Just a couple of helpful facts.

 

[Granny]

Originally posted by vernon
I think the boards can useful in "expectation management" but one has to realise that an individual "problem" doesn't reflect an endemic problem. Coupled with taking note of potential problems, one has to understand that people are much more likely to voice a bad experience than a good one. IMHO if you get 5 bad reports to 2 good ones the chances are that more people have good experiences to bad.

Vernon...funny, but sometimes I think the boards have just the opposite effect on "expectation management" and can sometimes tend to raise expectations. People read about magical CM experiences, awesome views, etc and it seems to raise their expectations. Then we get a trip report that expresses disappointment in various areas.

And I agree wholeheartedly that the posts about problems will always outnumber the posts about a great, flawless trip. That's just human nature. And it's important to hear about problems but not let them get us all worked up.

 

[crisi]

All of the above.

I enjoy being here, so in a way its enhancing my DVC experience.

The facts posts have really helped in a lot of ways. Otherwise, who'd know what sort of coffee filters to bring!

But there have been some "disappointments" Pretty minor ones. Though we loved our stay at BWV, the coveted Boardwalk View was noisier than we'd been led to believe and the view wasn't great.