DVC owner demographics?

[DeeCee735]

We started going regularly in 2006. Our kids were 12,11,&6. We all loved it so much we decided to buy in 2008. Two main reasons - too crowded in a regular room and we would talk ourselves out of vacations in the past. Now, we had to go! It has been great and we love DVC and our kids still love it too. Things are a little different now our two oldest are in college so they have different schedules. We took the year off last year and went on a cruise - wont do that again. This fall we decided to just go with our son and let him bring a friend, girls were so disappointed not to go we booked a second trip for March. First time gong twice in a 12 month period so we bought AP's for the first time and added on 100 points at BWV. Our original contract is 200 points at AKV. Now hopefully we have enough to stay longer or go during March again even though it uses more points. We are 46 & 47.

I love your story! It's somewhat similar to our experiences ( and our addons over the years!).

Enjoy!

 

[chrylaser]

Lots of different backgrounds and reasons. Seems like a nice community. We are excited to be a part of it!

 

[disfanforlife]

I love your story! It's somewhat similar to our experiences ( and our addons over the years!).

Enjoy!

Thank you! And not to mention we are excited to stay at BWV for the first time! I have enjoyed every resort we have stayed at and wouldn't rule out another add on at some point either.....planning to take my parents with us and all three kids together in December too.

 

[AirGoofy]

My family is in the process of purchasing our first DVC contract (SSR). My wife and I are both 32 and we have a 2 year old daughter. We bought in because we love Disney and know we will go often. I'm interested to know who else buys DVC properties. Young families, retired couples? If love to hear about you and why you purchased!

DW and I Disneymooned there in 2000. After our second child, we went back in 2005, then 2006, then 2007, then 2008. We figured we kinda liked this WDW thing, so we bought a resale contract in 2008, and have been going once a year or twice a year since then. I was 35, DW was way younger, and dds were 6 and 4 when we purchased.

 

[forloveofdisney]

I grew up a huge Mickey Mouse fan but didn't make it to Disney World until I was 19. Then 13 years later we returned with our three kids for the first of many magical vacations. After returning every third year and considering DVC every time, we decided in 2012 that it was time to buy before going again. Our goal was to get enough points to go every other year. We went in December 2013 and will be returning this summer. Twice in one year would never have happened without DVC. We are actually in the process of an add-on in order to go more often. It has been amazing to see my kids enjoy Disney differently as they grow. From characters to pressed pennies to thrill rides to tours. We look forward to our DVC future. I want to be able to share Disney magic with my extended family and one day take my grandkids!

 

[quandrea]

I'm 41 and dh is 48. We have three kids 4, 4, and 9. Bought in 2007 when we had one child. We now own 860 points and spend a month a year at wdw over two or three trips. We call dvc our cottage. Love it. Love how our trips have relaxed with longer stays.

 

[Andrew015]

I bought in at 27. I'm now 29, soon to be 30. No kids, just a lifelong love for WDW thanks to my father's addiction that started in 1971 and led to annual trips for the family ever since. I guess you could say I take after my father

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Bought in at VGF (direct) and SSR (resale) after a lot of number crunching last summer/fall (2013)-- I was 31, DH was 39. The twins were a yr. I calculated our point needs based on a 1 Br. We're now expecting #3 and I am thinking we need a few more points.

We bought when we did because;
1) we had a large windfall
2) we liked WDW for ease of everything (transport, entertainment, baby friendly)
3) we figured it was a hedge against bad years--as long as we can afford the MFs and gas, we can spend a resort week building family memories
4) the kitchens, the pack n plays, the full fridge, the separation of rooms, the theming... etc.

 

[Golden Rose]

I'm 42 and DH is 46, and our kids are 8 and 3. We bought in 2008, after discussing it off and on for a couple of years. I went to WDW fairly often growing up; DH had never been until we were married. We both really enjoyed our vacations there, particularly once DS was born and it made some types of travel and vacation more difficult. At some point, we realized we were perfect candidates because we were going to WDW approximately every 9 months, always staying in deluxe resorts on club level, and usually needing either 2 rooms or a suite. (My DM and DstepF often travel with us.) We still dithered for a while; we kept thinking there had to be a catch, and we were unsure we wanted to own a timeshare.

We bought initially at AKV, direct because the deal being offered at the time was good. We added on fairly quickly (resale, also in 2008) at BWV, because we always knew we wanted to own at an Epcot resort if we were going to have DVC. We added on again at the VGF last year (direct, because that was what was available.) The GF was my favorite hotel before we bought DVC, so we always knew we'd want to buy in if they built.

It's been a very good deal for us. We're definitely saving money on our trips, we've been able to take friends and family with us, and we've had good luck being able to use our points when and where we want to. We've currently got stays booked at VGC, Aulani, AKV, and VGF. We've discussed adding on at Aulani, but we wanted to stay there before we purchased. We are going next month, but since we just added on at VGF, and we didn't have trouble booking the Aulani dates we wanted at 7 months out, I'm not sure how likely we are to add on there any time soon.

Anyway, we love our DVC!

 

[PoohsFan1]

My DH and I bought into DVC in 2010, I am 40 and my DH is 38 (now) we have 2 DDs ages 12 and 10 (our upcoming May trip will be their 10th, they have been going since they were 4 and 2). We originally bought in at BLT and then the next year we bought into SSR. During our October 2013 trip we added another 50 points onto our SSR contract . We live in a Suburb of Chicago and when we aren't at Disney, which is our second home, we are busy planning out our trips .

 

[DisneyHeather]

I bought in 2010 and was 31. I am single and had plans to have a baby on my own and figured since I love Disney and wanted to make sure I could take my child as he grew up DVC would be a good thing to have. I bought 160 points at VGC since I live in California. Then I did a 120 point add on at AKV in 2012.

Now I have an almost 3 year old son who's been to Disneyland 3 times, Disney World twice and his first Disney cruise is later this year to Alaska. I love having the DVC and knowing that we'll be able to take fun vacations together for years to come. My mom's bought in at SSR I think in 2012 and we've been taking turns using points for big family vacations. I do joke that my son will be a hotel snob from staying DVC but that's fine with me

 

[ercrbc]

We joined 4 years ago when I was 30 and DH 31. We had a 4 and 1yo at the time and knew we had many Disney trips in our future. 4 years, another baby, two more contracts and several trips later we are more than happy about our decision to buy into DVC

 

[dianeschlicht]

We are one of those "older couples" who love Disney. We purchased DVC in 1997, but we certainly didn't jump in! We waited for 4 years from when we first learned of DVC until we purchased. We just missed the free passes DVC offered back in the beginning. Our regret is that we didn't buy in right away.

We own 3 contracts...2 at OKW and one at AKV. We don't have a lot of points (449), but we manage to get what we want out of them. At this stage in our lives (late 60's), we don't want more maintenance fees. We travel to Disney 2-3 times a year and tend to buy Annual passes taking breaks between them. We do not believe in packing people in either. We always book a 1 bedroom for the 2 of us, and we even once booked a 3 bedroom GV for 4 of us! We love taking family and friends along to join us.

 

[a742246]

We bought resale when we were in our 50's and when our youngest of 3 finished college (finally had some extra money). We added on every year for 5years until our adult children started getting married (weddings, no extra money again).
Moral of the story, if you think kids are expensive when they are young just wait until College and beyond (LOL).
WDW has been great, our adult children live in other states and when they visit us at home we do not have much quality time with them. But when we treat them to a Disney vacation it seems like we get their full attention (no friends to compete with). Overall, we are very happy with our DVC purchase.

 

[Denmage]

My wife and I had never been to WDW until we were 32 (her 31) and our son was given a trip as a "wish" from A Wish Come True. We were hooked instantly. DW and I went back a few months later and stayed off-property, but bought 200 points at WVL (2001). We bought a 100 point add-on at BCV in 2002.

We are now 55ish. Our children are 32, 25, and 14. We have a 4 year old grandson and we have all been ump-teen times over the years.

We have other timeshares (at Massanutten in Virginia), but we LOVE our DVC timeshares.

Denis

 

[SusieBea]

My DH bought in 1993 as a 40th Bday gift for me. Our daughters were 10 and 7. We liked traveling to WDW because there was something for everyone to do. That continued to be the case as our girls grew, and there were many trips where they took friends. We've added four additional contracts and now are taking our grandchildren. We've come full circle (that was part of the initial plan) and still enjoy going as much as we did when we first bought.

 

[lah3hh]

The first time DH and I went to WDW was in 1991. We loved it so much we took 4 year old DD in 1992. Went back almost once a year until we finally purchased DVC in 1998. The funny thing is we originally bought into DVC while we were in HHI. After being to WDW several times and loving HHI we knew it was an excellent decision for us.

Fast forward to current times...we still love WDW, DCL, DL, HHI, VB and Aulani! Can you see our overall love of Disney had grown at about the same pace as our add ons!! No regrets in our initial decision considering we have had 16 years of fantastic vacations that we probably would not have taken if we had to pay in cash only!

 

[com_op_2000]

We bought in '93 when OKW was the only DVC. We were in our 30's and DD was 13. We bought in cause of trust in the Disney name.
We had bought a previous timeshare and were burnt by that experience. Part of our requirement for the contract was that we got a reservation within the 10 day cancellation period so that we could judge whether or not it was everything we had been told it was. We were so relived that DVC was better than we expected.
We have taken over 100+ vacations that we never would of been able too without DVC. We have added on twice to our points total and with our DGS(2), we expect to take and make more vacation memories for years to come.

 

[Kwaschitz]

My husband: 37
Me: 36
Son: 8

We purchased this past summer, direct, VGF.

We'd been contemplating and running numbers for over a decade. We first looked in May 2000 on our honeymoon and toured again several years later, each year going online for info, talking to guides, etc.

We know that we will go to Disney at least once a year, that we will continue to enjoy it even when it's just the two of us. After staying at the Polynesian and realizing how much we liked that closer proximity to the parks, it made purchasing make much more sense.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

What a great thread!!!

My parents started taking me to Disney back in the 70`s when it first opened. We did many trips but did them frugally, never staying on site. My dream, everytime the monorail drove through, was to some day stay at the Contemporary.

Fast forward 20 years and my DH and I started taking our daughters to Disney. We have been going every year with them since 1998 when they were 2 and 4 years old. We sometimes stayed at the All - Star resort and sometimes stayed off site. With the CDN exchange rate at the time (cost us 60% MORE) we just could not justify the Contemporary (though it remained a dream). I saw the DVC booths in the parks but never stopped to inquire. I just assumed it was some point accumulation reward program that would not work for us as we only went once a year.

Finally, in Dec 2009, when the exchange rate was close to par, we splurged and I finally lived my dream. We stayed at BLT and absolutely loved it!!! We had magic kingdom view and completely enjoyed riding the monorail and exploring the different resorts and watching the comings and goings of others.

The following year we did it again and decided that it would now be hard to ``go back`` to the old ways as we now spoiled ourselves and our daughters.
I stopped at a DVC kiosk to ask a few questions but never did the tour.

We came home early 2011 (we were both 49) and decided to buy DVC at the goint exchange rate which was somewhat above par and lock in part of our future vacation dollars. As Disney could not sell to us from home, we stumbled upon resale and purchased BLT that way just before the resale restrictions kicked in.

We are extremely happy with our purchase as my DH and I plan to continue to visit Disney. Our daughters are already talking about going with friends in a few years and I hope to treat grandchildren to the dream some day as well. We probably will have to add on at some point as we are really a family of Disney lovers!!