DVC Members in Orange, Osceola, Polk or Lake County

[vacationer1954]

I'm curious about DVC owners who live in Orange, Osceola, Polk or Lake County, specifically about how you mix your DVC ownership with living so close to the parks. Why did you keep your ownership (or why you sold it)? How do you use it?

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I’m in Brevard County ... ~ an hour’s drive away. I originally purchased a small BCV contract - just enough for ~10 days in a studio during Food & Wine - and the 11 month window was never an issue. Since moving here, I have so far kept it and continue to use the same way - a F&W trip booked at 11 months. When I first moved down here, I thought I’d use it differently, splitting the points for several long weekends booked “spur of the moment.” But from what I’ve seen there are seldom studios available in the 30-60 day window. Thus far, I’ve continued to enjoy the week in the fall but the planning at 11 months is a pain and I’ve begun wondering if the money wouldn’t be better used elsewhere.

 

[vacationer1954]

Thanks for the reply. I think Brevard County would be a different story for us. We had a place in Palm Bay, and if we were living there now I'm confident that it wouldn't affect our DVC membership at all. It's only 80 miles away, but after a long day at the parks an 80 mile drive is too much. We might as well be living in Georgia. But we are going to be living in Kissimmee, literally three right turns from the main gate - rarely if ever more than a 22 minute drive home from any of the theme park parking lots (according to Google Maps).

I wonder if the lack of replies from DVC owners who live in Orange, Osceola, Polk or Lake County indicates something important to me, though.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Congratulations on your move! I’d wait and see how you feel after you move. I love the frequent day trips but it just isn’t the same level of relaxation you get from truly being on vacation and staying overnight - at least for me. So I still very much enjoy staying on property. I just am not planning it more than 60 days out anymore and that really limits DVC studio availability.

Pete Werner (founder of The DIS) is a local and just purchased several contracts. He launched a new site dvcfan.com and there is a pretty active Facebook group where you might get more replies & perspective from Pete himself or other locals.

 

[Barbydoll8]

I'm the same in the other direction. Pinellas county which is about 75 miles due west. We bought while living here. We only do 1-3 night stays and it's perfect. Could I drive home? sure, I've done it many times but it's nice to just be "away" and in the Disney bubble. Especially after a long day in the World.

 

[com_op_2000]

Volusia county and I work in downtown Orlando.
We take multiple short stays throughout the year and one longer trip at some point during the year. We want to get enough points to be able to stay 2 - 5 nights per month. We like taking trips to both VB and HH alternating the trips year each. We trade out to other than our HR 95% of the time.
We have been and continue to go every year (since '93) during the first two weeks of Dec for DW's birthday get-away. We use this trip for ourselves to enjoy the holidays and get-away from the hustle of the holidays.

 

[LocustPoint]

I moved to Orange County (Windermere) last September from Baltimore. I bought my points back in 1998. My husband and I used almost all of my points for this year when we were coming down and looking for our house in Florida. We plan on keeping them and have used them for one and two night stays when we need a bit of magic. We don’t go to the parks near as much as I thought we would, life gets in the way. We plan on using them at Vero Beach and doing one and two night stays. We also still like to share the points with family so there may be more of that in the future as well.

 

[DVC-Don]

We use our points for when the grandchild comes to visit and trips for the two of us to Vero Beach and Hilton Head. Once we purchased a home here back in 2010 we sold off most of our DVC points and hung onto one 210 contract at OKW. We live in Polk County with a 45 to 35 minute drive to the parking lots. We also changed from buying DVC AP's to Florida Resident Seasonal AP's.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We currently live in Orange County, but we are in the process of building a house in Indian River County (10 minutes from the Vero Resort).
We used to be Members when we lived up north, but sold for various reasons.
Upon moving to Orlando we considered adding a handful of points at BCV just so we could crash at the resort after F&W. After looking at the price per point, I think renting points or cash ressies are the way to go.

At least as a Florida resident there is truly no reason to by direct. We get better deals than an out of state Member.

 

[jerseygal]

We will be in the same boat very soon. DH and I are semi retiring, CANNOT WAIT, so EXCITED! Just have to get beyond the next few months, selling our home, etc,, trying to take one day at a time. Our new adventure will begin renting in either Windermere or Winter Garden to see how we like a lifestyle there. Will not purchase a home for at least 1 to 2 years, maybe more to test the waters.If we don't love it in Orlando, after our annual lease, Tampa is an area that we are strongly considering. Even if living in Orange County, plans right now do not include changing our membership. We look forward to vacationing with our two adult sons, DL, youngest girlfriend, an hopefully future grands in Vero or HH. Love that HH is only 5 hours by car from Orlando! We begin our adventure this coming October! We will staying at HHI for 5 nights mid September on our leasurely drive from NJ to Orlando. Really enjoy HHI!

 

[jerseygal]

I'm curious about DVC owners who live in Orange, Osceola, Polk or Lake County, specifically about how you mix your DVC ownership with living so close to the parks. Why did you keep your ownership (or why you sold it)? How do you use it?

Thanks for the reply. I think Brevard County would be a different story for us. We had a place in Palm Bay, and if we were living there now I'm confident that it wouldn't affect our DVC membership at all. It's only 80 miles away, but after a long day at the parks an 80 mile drive is too much. We might as well be living in Georgia. But we are going to be living in Kissimmee, literally three right turns from the main gate - rarely if ever more than a 22 minute drive home from any of the theme park parking lots (according to Google Maps).

I wonder if the lack of replies from DVC owners who live in Orange, Osceola, Polk or Lake County indicates something important to me, though.

CONGRATS on the move! Hope that it is successful!

 

[lehrsj]

We live in Orange County and are 14 miles from OKW. Our first purchase was in 1993 and we didn’t live in Florida at the time. But we moved to Orlando in 1997. We use the points to have family gatherings which can be a number of rooms. We go with local friends each year to food and wine for a few nights. We take a few 2 night stays.

 

[vacationer1954]

That's one thing prompting us to hold onto our DVC membership: Being able to offer it to family visiting (especially since we won't have a proper guest room).

 

[Maistre Gracey]

That's one thing prompting us to hold onto our DVC membership: Being able to offer it to family visiting (especially since we won't have a proper guest room).

Hahaha!!!!! I can’t stop laughing at this!! Excellent point!!!!!

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

We live in Osceola country. We have been here for over 9yrs. When we got here we owned 627 points between BCV and BWV. We did sell the BCV points a couple yrs ago because I could not the resale prices could keep going up when it expires in 2042. Boy was I wrong
We live less than 3 miles from driving under the WDW sign but we still love staying at DVC resorts and we love to invite our friends along to share our time! We now own 375 points and are in a constant state of borrowing. When we don’t have people joining us our stays are all about the resort.
It is so amazing to load up the car and pull up to the resort 8 minutes later.

 

[71 Truck]

My wife and I purchased back in January 1997 while on vacation. At the time we lived in central New Jersey.
I always wanted to some day retire, move to Florida and work for Disney. In August of 1999 at the age of 33 that is what we did. We live 15 minutes from Walt Disney World. (I no longer work for Disney)
We decided to keep our vacation Club. We knew we would be able to go to the parks using my passes at the time and still loved staying at the resorts and still do.
We did not do stays any longer than 2 to 3 days two or times a year.
We would then take our points that were not used and go on Disney Cruises. We were told that was not the best use of points but we had them so we used them.
We have used our points to go to Las Vegas with the members get away program.
We have used points as a gift to friends for their honeymoon.
We have rented points to friend who were short points and needed extra to complete their vacations.
We have rented points to supplement the cost when we do Florida resident rates for Disney Cruises.
For us and what we paid way back in 1997 it is still worth it for us to keep it. Yes we do have to pay maintenance fees however the value for the way we still use it is worth it for us.
If some day it is no longer worth it we may look at selling or just continue to rent points to friends and family.

 

[katmittens]

We are currently looking to buy a house in a retirement community about 20 miles away from Disney. We plan on keeping our points. Disney has figured into our plans on where to retire. We like the idea that we can go for an afternoon to Disney or we can stay for a night or two if we like. While we were down looking at houses we decided to stay an extra day and I was lucky enough to get a studio for that night. Called while we were sitting at Disney springs sipping a cocktail and SS had availability.

 

[com_op_2000]

...I was lucky enough to get a studio for that night. Called while we were sitting at Disney springs sipping a cocktail and SS had availability.

Last minute trips are the greatest - no planning, nothing to do but enjoy the time away.

 

[mac_tlc]

We originally bought in 1992. Since then, the kids somehow got to be 32 and 25. Six years ago, we bought a house in Orlando, about 20 miles from the EPCOT parking lot, While we don't live there full time, we do not rent it so its available. We have not sold any of our 385 points. We stay on-site for a couple days at a time a couple of times a year. The kids use it for a week here or there -- its more convenient being on site with the grandkids if you are doing some commando-touring of the theme parks. We use them at Vero often. What we have started doing is getting a bigger unit --- 1 bedrooms for just the two of us instead of a studio.

We usually end up banking some points, but have not yet considered selling them.

mac_tlc

 

[OKWJan]

We live in Celebration, and both work at Disney part-time. We still use all our points and love it. We use them at Vero for mini vacations, going to California/Aulani in a week, and use it when the kids come down to visit so it is more of a vacation for them. Never have any problem using up those points . Best thing we ever did.