DVC for Florida residents. Worth it?

[amp427]

Hi DISboards!

I have been a DVC member off and on since Dec. of 1992. I am being transferred to the Daytona area this fall and I was wondering if there are any DVC members who live that close to the parks, and if they think it's worth having. I curently live in Pa, so being a member was always worth it to me. But now being within driving distance, I wanted to hear what you folks thought.

Thanks,

TonyP (amp427)

 

[vascubaguy]

If I lived that close I doubt I would not have purchased into DVC. I'd probably just make day trips on the weekends and if I wanted to stay for any period of time I'd use the Florida rates (or AP rates - cause I'm sure I'd have an AP).

 

[spiceycat]

when I first joined - there were some members from Orlando and I asked them why they jointed.

first to get access to Orlando during some great sales in Dec.

secondly to enjoy WDW for Dec now I would include Oct/Nov food & wine festavial, April/May/June - garden & flower festavial...

thirdly (and this seems to be the most important reason for some of them - more than one party) - they knew that their relatives would be visiting them... so instead of messing up their houses with unwanted guests - they were planning to send them to DVC (studios only)....

 

[JimMIA]

First of all, welcome to the DIS!

We live in Miami, which is quite a bit further from WDW than Daytona. We have about a 4-hour drive; on a good day, you'll have an hour to hour-and-a-half (that's a guess). But I can tell you from some experience, it sure as heck will not be a stress-free 1 1/2 hours! It will be mostly heavy traffic and slow going. I think you may appreciate DVC even more when you're closer.

One thing you will probably see is a dramatic change in visitation patterns. We take several short trips a year -- most of them 3-5 days. You'll also be able to take some spur-of-the-moment trips -- call MS and go. Depending on your driving tolerance, you might also do some special event trips -- just coming down for the night for MVMCP or CP, for example.

I guess the short answer is I think you'll find it well worth keeping.

-----
Oh -- don't know how I forgot this one! Get ready for your new status as the "most popular relative!"

If you move down in the fall, enjoy October, November and December...because as soon as the first really cold wave hits up north, you are going to become In-Law Numero Uno!

About Jan 3, you are going to get a call from your long-lost Grandma's neighbor's Aunt's second cousin Cecil. The call will go something like this:

"Tony! Tony-BABY! Geez, guy...how long has it BEEN??? (Ed. Note: It is not required that you have actually ever met this person.) So listen! Grizzelda and I are coming down next week -- got room? Yeah, just the two of us? REALLY??? Aw man, that's great! See ya then, ole buddy!"

A few days later the call will come with the good news that the four kids, Aunt Louise, Uncle Lester, and Joey The Knife are also going to be able to make the trip.

Welcome to the DIS...and welcome to The Sunshine State!

 

[HUFF590]

I think it would be great, we used to own a motorhome before joining DVC and had a campground half mile from our house and went there all the time, everyone thought we were crazy. Now I know that the $ side in your case is a lot , but I think if you liked your DVC before go for it.

 

[6IrishDisneyKids]

We live 60 to 90 minutes from DW (coming from the opposite direction). We love our DVC membership! Spending the night (or several nights) is much more magical than day trips! And because we live so close, we can be more flexible in making last minute trips. Also, we are better able to avoid staying on points for weekends. If we were flying down from XYZ town, we probably would want to stay at least 7 days to make it worth our while, but this way, we don't mind spending only 3-5 nights, because we know we can drive over in a couple months and do it all again.
HTH!

 

[JimMIA]

thirdly (and this seems to be the most important reason for some of them - more than one party) - they knew that their relatives would be visiting them... so instead of messing up their houses with unwanted guests - they were planning to send them to DVC (studios only)....

Ah yes...got to love those rookie mistakes!

The CORRECT veteran Florida Cracker answer is:

"When? Lemme check. Aw man, sorry! Can't stay at our house; we're going to be in Disney that week!

"Really? Cool...let us know where you're going to be!

"Uh no, actually. We've already committed all our points for this year...but you can rent on the DIS!"

 

[EdTreo]

I live less than 100 miles away. Since I've 2 small kids that is the only place we go for vacation. Save us airfare.

 

[ducklite]

I'm half an hour away. When we first moved here we had 460 points, 250 at BCV and 210 at BWV. We kept BWV and sold BCV. So far this year we spent NYE at SSR after a night at HoB, and are spending three nights at the Sagamore in September.

We're hoping to spend a weekend at Vero in the late fall when no one is there.

Anne

 

[allflgirl]

I think it worth it if you're moving to FL. I'm a Florida resident for 37 years. I often vacation in Orlando and I'm about the same distance away as you will be living in Daytona.

Orlando, to me that is, is a completely different piece of FL than the rest of the state; i.e. mainly the beaches. There's so much to do within a few miles that I love to take short trips each year there, normally 2 - 4 days per visit. I go to WDW, Sea World, the water parks or just hang out at Boardwalk and Downtown Disney.

Like the previous posters mentioned, you'll probably alter your vacation plans a little, taking shorter trips and more of them.

Try it out for a year and see if it still works for you. You'll may be surprised that you like it more now then before and so much less travel time!

Julia

 

[Poohs Pal]

DD and I just had this conversation last week as we are moving to Florida next year and had family ask if we plan to sell our DVC We both own at SSR. We feel it's like living here in the middle of Michigan and taking up north trips. We could go to Petoskey or traverse City and spend half a day and head home, but we'd rather stay a couple days. So yes we plan to keep our DVC even if we move close to Orlando . My DSIS roll's her eye's at this but yet she own's into a camp ground time share that is only 40 minutes from her house because it gets her UP NORTH . Another reason is I prefer not to have to drive home after a night at JellyRolls . Susan

 

[MissD]

We live about 90 miles north of WDW, and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our membership.

We have taken many short, spur of the moment trips just to enjoy the resorts--and not even set foot in the parks. Other trips, of course, are park-oriented. Living nearby gives us more flexibility in how we use DVC, and gives us lowcost options to just 'get away'. Yes, I know-maintenance and all that, but the points are paid for and the maintenance has been a part of our monthly budget for years--as a mental health expense

Without DVC, we would have 'found' other ways to spend that money, and those little trips as well as the 'big' ones would have never been an option. There isn't just WDW, there's VB to consider, and HH, too. Some of our best DVC memories are from our trips to VB.

While there can be some great values on Orlando area hotel rooms, I always know exactly what to expect at my DVC home, and I'm never disappointed. I also appreciate the fact that I don't have to pay any room taxes when I stay with my points; those tax dollars can add up!

Two weeks ago, a tree fell through our roof during one of our famous Florida t-storms. The rain flooded the house, collapsed the ceilings, the whole 9 yards. We had to find a hotel for our initial 'temporary housing' and the best rate I could find in Ocala was over $100 plus taxes per night. All I could think about (besides the obvious) was how much better a studio at OKW would have been ) DVC has spoiled us.

 

[Pluto 2]

when i bought in the year 2000 they had a list of all the states and differnt countries of how many people were dvc members. i forget the order but florida was defintely in the top 3. the top three states were florida,new york,and new jersey, not in that order sorry forgot the order.but them states were defintely the top three.
so there must be a lot of floridans who thought it was worth it.

 

[amp427]

Thank you for all the responses. Looks like most of you feel that is worth keeping, at least for year and see what happens. I really appreciate all the info!

TonyP

 

[emememem]

We live 6 miles north of the castle. believe it or not I miss our Disney vacations! We've been DVC members since 1998, joined when we lived up north.we'll use our membership differently now. We are taking a long weekend in Sept at WL and I can't wait! Yes we do MANY day trips, quick dinners at the resorts and parks....but it's just not the same as a REAL Disney vacation. However,if you ask my DH he'll tell you every day is like vacation here...

 

[mj2vacation]

we live in Celebration, and still own. We use it mostly for on or two night stays at the Beach Club.

There is no better vacation than the one that's 5 minutes away!

We also stay in some of the higher end hotels in Orlando, just for a quick get away. 48 million people a year can't be wrong.....

When you live close and have an ap, you utilize the parks and resorts very differnetly. Many of the times that we stay, we don't even go into the parks.

 

[zalansky]

Add us to the Florida DVC owners who love it club! We live in Tampa about an hour from WDW. Before we joined, we used to go over and stay anywhere from 1 to 4 nights, often at the Wilderness Lodge with Fl Res rates. Then we had a baby. We wanted. and I think needed more room. So we stayed off-site at Sheratons Vistana. It didn't have the magic for us. We loved being on-site, so we went back to WL. The problem was the baby needed to get to bed alot earlier than we did...plus take naps sometimes. We dealt with it....then, we had another baby. We finally took the plunge and bought into DVC. We would never take a day trip and then drive home late at night all tired.
Now we will be able to book larger rooms and just get up and go when we feel like it. Just because we live here doesn't mean we don't vacation like anyone else who enjoys Disney would. The only difference is we don't have to book airfares!!!

 

[Disney Doll]

"Tony! Tony-BABY! Geez, guy...how long has it BEEN??? (Ed. Note: It is not required that you have actually ever met this person.) So listen! Grizzelda and I are coming down next week -- got room? Yeah, just the two of us? REALLY??? Aw man, that's great! See ya then, ole buddy!"

A few days later the call will come with the good news that the four kids, Aunt Louise, Uncle Lester, and Joey The Knife are also going to be able to make the trip.

Welcome to the DIS...and welcome to The Sunshine State!

Joey the Knife!!!!!! Sounds like a bad version of the Sopranos!!!!!

 

[lovespugs]

One thing you didn't mention is how long you'll be in Daytona. When DH and I moved to Orlando, we knew we wouldn't live here for the rest of our lives. So we decided to hang on to the DVC points so we didn't have to pay more to buy them back in a few years. I definitely agree that you will use the points differently. I probably wouldn't stay the night as often if it weren't for DVC. As someone else mentioned, I budget for my dues and once paid, I *have* to use the points. But spur of the moment hotel stays in a deluxe resort aren't something I budget for. We stayed at Vero this year, and will definitely do that again. We mostly take 1 - 2 night trips for anniversary, birthday, Christmas, and F&W. I love DVC, and I can't imagine selling, even though I live in Orlando.