Do you ever go to your home resort and not go to parks?

[WolfpackFan]

If you've followed my saga, I'm hoping to buy into DVC in June when we are spending a week at AKL. Hopefully we can buy into BCV then. I'm almost successfull in selling my wife on the idea. One thing she said at lunch though is she has no wish to go to WDW every year (gasp, horror, the nerve of her to blaspheme like that <g>). She is just not the Disney nut like I am. She is fine going every 2-3 (mostly 3) years. My response was to not think of it as going to WDW every year; rather think of it as going to a week in a Florida timeshare resort. My point being that we both love Florida and the beach. Nothing says we have to actually go to the parks everytime we go down to our resort. I could see us easily going down to BCV and spending a relaxing week, laying out by the pool, eating at restaurants, playing golf and just generally relaxing and never enter a park. Plus there is Vero and HH we could stay at the beach. Does anyone ever go down and just vacation at their home resort and not hit the parks?? Just curious.

John

 

[crazyaboutdisney]

why not purchase now and use the akl money to go towards your dvc? i wish that we would have done that when we joined. just wondering if you thought of that?

 

[WolfpackFan]

I've thought about that, but the thing is we really want BCV to be our home resort and it's my understanding they aren't available yet for sale.

John

 

[RobDoc]

HH is one of our "Homes" and we never go to the parks while we're there! We do enjoy just relaxing and going to the pool and beach.

Even at WDW, we often just visit other resorts and enjoy exploring WDW without going into the parks.

Enjoy!

 

[Muushka]

Hi John. We are also from Cary and Wolfpack fans (husband is a State grad). Small world??? Anyway, in answer to your question, we are finding other things to do at our DVC home other than going into the parks. You can do a search on me, but we are sort of fed up with Disney park prices, so finding alternative entertainment.

We really enjoy the resorts a lot. We go out for putt putt, or shopping at Downtown Disney, or to another resort to look around, or eat. Also, we have started enjoying USF/IOA for the fun rides there. Just looking forward to more laid-back vacationing. We usually stay in the DVC resort for 5 nights, and Orlando for another 1 or 2. We go twice a year, late spring and first or second week of December. PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!

PS my condolences for your non-loving-Disney wife

 

[Chuck S]

If your DW doesn't like to do the parks every trip, you could book VB or HH. We drove over to VB for lunch during one of our OKW trips. VB is a beautiful resort, and I'm sure HH is as well. Or you could relax at one of the WDW DVCs, but I'd be drawn to the parks anyway.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Muushka -

Small world indeed. When did your husband graduate from State? I'm a 73 grad in CSC and got my MS in IE in 82. I work for State Gov't. Hope the weather reports about snow Wednesday night are false. Nice hearing from a fellow Caryite.

John

 

[WolfpackFan]

Chuck -

You know I got to thinking. We can always stay at BCV and my wife can lay out by the pool all day long doing nothing, which is her idea of the perfect vacation. And I can get park tickets just for myself. I have no problem at all visiting the parks solo. We've been married long enough (30 years) that some alone times doesn't bother either one of us.

John

 

[Muushka]

Hey John. My husband graduated form State in '88 in aerospace engineering. He is now a software engineer (aerospace is not a good field!).

Yup, hope the snow forecast is wrong, but you remember what happened a couple of years ago

Happy DVC info hunting! It took us 3 years to finally buy!

 

[Candace]

My husband is not a Disney fan - very rarely does he accompany us to WDW. We went down for a long Labor Day weekend this past Sept, and we didn't enter any parks. It was just the two of us, and I decided I could do without the parks too. Like you said, it can be viewed as just a lovely Florida timeshare. You can eat out, shop, go to movies, etc. and just plain relax - never entering a park.

 

[caverill]

I am not a Wolfpack fan since I live in Minnesota, but I totally agree about making Orlando your base of operations when you are on vacation.

When we purchased DVC, we decided that going to Florida in February on a yearly basis was a good thing. Getting to also visit WDW would be icing on the cake.

Our next trip in February, we will be spending two days at VB then 5 days at BWV. I think we will only spend three days "doing Disney" since we will be going to SeaWorld for two days. Over the next 40 years I am sure that we will have plenty of times where we won't go to a Disney Park (unless they offer a great ticket deal...hint, hint).

I also think you should look into buying prior to staying at AKL. You may be able to pickup a resell on BWV and save some money in the process. I know I wish we would have purchased prior to the trip we did. We had talked and thought about it but ended up staying in a Moderate. All of that money could be been spent on DVC instead.

I also think you should consider the flexiablity of DVC when making your decision. We have used our points to stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and we are also planning to use points to go to Hawaii in a couple of years. This may not be the most efficent use of points, but you aleast of the flexiablity.

 

[msdis]

We were at VWL in Sept along with a 3 night cruise, no parks. It was shaping up to be one of our BEST vacations, mind you our first non park vacation. That was until 9/11 sent us packing 3 days early. We are still looking forward to a non park vacation again.

Besides, if you ever take someone with you, you can do the parks and your wife can relax, everyone will be happy.

 

[dvcdudes]

Our last trip was a non park trip. My wife also isn't "nuts" about the parks. She does however love the resorts. We had a great time. I have two young DS's so we did go to Disney quest one day and spent another at Typhoon Lagoon.
We intend to go twice a year for the forseeable future and will alternate a prk trip and a resort trip.My DW is actually looking foward to our trip in August. she's not as thilled about the one comming up in March but me and the kids can't wait.

 

[mooses41]

John, just an idea, another thing you can do is go to water parks. My wife loved Typhoon Lagoon, especially the lazy river and the beach. Good luck.

 

[jmminarik]

We just got back from a week at VB and two days at BW. Vero doesn't leave much choice...getting to the parks would be a hassle! They do have a litany of activities (some for just the little ones, some for everyone), and there is information on the other things to do in the VB area.

BW was a blast, even though we didn't spend much time there. We did leave SeaWorld early on our first day just so we could get back and sit on the boardwalk and people watch. It isn't alot, but there is almost always something happening on the boardwalk so that you don't have to spend days in the park. We plan on taking my wife's family down next december (not Christmas week though....too many people *bleaugh*) and depending on how long we stay and how many points we have, we're hoping to stay at BW. This is primarily so there are other 'non-park' things for them to do, and we've scheduled one day in the middle of the trip as a break from the miles and miles of walking. BW has enough to offer so the kids and the adults will find something to keep them occupied.

Finally, the concierge collection, plus the exchanges with the 'traditional' timeshares will allow you to go to a non-disney resort in return for a set number of points. While probably not worth it on a financial basis if you do this on a regular basis, it is an option to consider. We're already looking at the future and taking alaska glacier cruises, nights in London at the Dorchester, and weeks in warm, tropical areas outside of Florida!

Hope this helps,
Joe

 

[tiffany123]

John: I sent you a pm but not sure if you received it. We bought at HH in October, sight unseen and from what I've heard and read, we won't be disappointed. We used MB and our use year is June so we sold 2001 points back to DVC as part of our downpayment (at $13 pp) as we won't be vacationing before June 2002 anyway. HH seem like it would be a great choice for you and your wife. It's within easy driving distance from you for short getaways plus you'd have the HH 11 month window for summer trips. There are many more rooms available at WDW for DVC use and we had no problems at all booking at the 7 month window for next summer. We are also planning to use DVC's concerige program in summer 2003 for a trip west. We are not Disney fanatics but feel that their timeshare program is miles above others out there.

 

[mickeysgang]

We also have been doing trips lately without going to the parks. We have been going practically all of our life & so have our 2 boys (12,13). We're a little burned out since there hasn't been much change, so we're taking a break from our pases. The boys love to just hang out, go to the CC and do all the pools. They also rent bikes. We actually have gottn passes to SW & US/IOA. We're doing those parks for awhile. We love our accomodations and wouldn't want to stay anywhere else while we are in Orlando. We go shopping, explore, do water parks when it is warm and miniature golf. All & all we are enjoying relaxing for a change. So yes there are some of us that don't do the parks every time & we are enjoying it.