DVC Owners from California?

[bubbasmom99]

Hello from just south of Sacramento!

We bought 150 pts at VWL in Dec. 2000 and just got back (about 3 hours ago) from our first visit "home", where we added on another 100 pts at BCV.

We plan to go every other year. We've been to WDW 3x now and paid about $200-$225 per person each time. Just watch for the good airfare deals. We flew out of Sac on a red-eye this time, which I will NOT do again. Just too much of a zombie on day one. Next time we will fly in regular flight and stay at an airport hotel via Priceline for the first night.

We have used our points for the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian, and once you have stayed on points, you will see what an enormous rip-off (I say that tongue-in-cheek, but with a wince) staying at anything other than a DVC resort is. We were spread out (2 adults, 1 4yr old, 1 1yr old) in a 2 bedroom villa for about the same points as a standard room at the DL hotel! After this trip, DH said "no more using DVC points for DL stays - we'll pay cash and save the points for WDW!".

 

[SoCalKDG]

Bumping this thread up to hear from all the DVC'ers from California.

Just joined(passed ROFR yesterday), now live in Riverside while working in Orange County(about 10 minutes from Disneyland).

I'll usually use Southwest to fly(Ontario airport only 20 minutes away) to Orlando, and should get a free airline ticket per year with their rapid rewards.

Family of 3, me, DW, and DD(she is 2, looks 4 - very tall) hoping to make it family of 4.

My first trip is coming up, decided to get 7 day park hopper plusses for tickets to allow me to come back in Dec. 2005 for very little cost. Hotwire had this ticket for $295, great deal.

 

[bwvBound]

SoCalKDG - You found ParkHopper passes on Hotwire? I see Universal passes (5 days for price of 2) ... but no WDW passes ... ?

Otherwise, responding to the thread: Checking-in from San Diego! We've been staying on the Epcot Lagoon annually since 1996 ... and finally joined DVC this year. Our favorite spot is the Yacht Club ... but we've grown attached to BWV for its location.

Owning other timeshare, we are spoiled by the amenities (extra space, kitchen, "home-away-from-home" feeling, etc.). We've been fortunate to trade into BWV twice ... and have also stayed via cash reservation.

Our intention for owning DVC is to cover a single trip each year of 7-8 nights. The stay will be work related but we sneak in a little recreational time after the conference closes. We'll book either a 1BR or Studio as our point balance permits and will stay the entire week in the same unit. Most likely, we'll be different from most DVC owners in that we'll book 8 nights in the "worst possible configuration" with respect to weekends (arriving Saturday and leaving Sunday, 8 nights later).

We'll continue using our other properties for getaways, exchanges, etc. We've started a habit of returning to the area in early Dec for "vacation" purposes ... but stay off-property using RCI Bonus Vacations or II Getaway weeks.

As others have mentioned in this thread, we typically find airfare between $225-325 and try to travel as early in the day as possible.

 

[SoCalKDG]

SoCalKDG - You found ParkHopper passes on Hotwire? I see Universal passes (5 days for price of 2) ... but no WDW passes ... ?

Are you going to hotwiresavingsclub.com? I just purchased 7 day park hopper plus(gives you 4 plusses) for $297 last week(and that includes tax). Its a great deal. Even if you only value the water parks/Pleasure Island at $15 per day, you then get 7 days of the main parks for $237 or $34 per day.

Did you see that they are adding the Hotel Del Coronado to the concierge list?

Southwest is offering $99 each way to Orlando right now, what a deal. Do they fly down in San Diego?

 

[LeftCoaster]

I lived most of my life in San Jose and then escaped to Orange County in 2000.
I do two trips a year to WDW. One in the spring and one in the fall. I use my points for a Sun - Thur. night stay and then pay cash for a room on the weekends.
Flying, I take first flight out and get into Orlando around 3 p.m. and on the return, I take a late afternoon flight home. I really don't have problem with Jetlag but, I'm sure that will change as the years go on. ::sigh::
I don't worry about airfare though since I earn two tickets a year on Southwest and use that for my cross country jaunts. I still have family in the bay area and my parents retired up to Sacramento. So, I fly up there a lot. I go to Vegas a couple of times a year and earn tickets fairly easily.

 

[LeftCoaster]

Originally posted by SoCalKDG
Bumping this thread up to hear from all the DVC'ers from California.

Just joined(passed ROFR yesterday), now live in Riverside while working in Orange County(about 10 minutes from Disneyland).

I'll usually use Southwest to fly(Ontario airport only 20 minutes away) to Orlando, and should get a free airline ticket per year with their rapid rewards.

Family of 3, me, DW, and DD(she is 2, looks 4 - very tall) hoping to make it family of 4.

My first trip is coming up, decided to get 7 day park hopper plusses for tickets to allow me to come back in Dec. 2005 for very little cost. Hotwire had this ticket for $295, great deal.

I love Ontario airport. Really CLEAN, efficient, and great fares. I rarely ever use a different airport. and Boy do I miss those $19 fares from Ontario to Vegas.

 

[AFMom]

I lived in CA (in the foothills,,,, anyone heard of Auburn?) for 25 years until my husband was stationed to FL, then TX, then SD, then OK, and now we're in southern AL. All of that moving in 4.5 years with our two kids! I really miss it there - but don't miss the prices! Went to DL all the time, and miss that as well! That's the main reason we're buying into DVC - to make sure that no matter where we are in the country we'll make a point to get to Disney at least every other year. Does anyone know if there are any DVC discounts at DL or CA Adv? Restaurants, et cetera?

 

[bwvBound]

Originally posted by SoCalKDG
Are you going to hotwiresavingsclub.com? I just purchased 7 day park hopper plus(gives you 4 plusses) for $297 last week(and that includes tax). Its a great deal. Even if you only value the water parks/Pleasure Island at $15 per day, you then get 7 days of the main parks for $237 or $34 per day.

Did you see that they are adding the Hotel Del Coronado to the concierge list?

Southwest is offering $99 each way to Orlando right now, what a deal. Do they fly down in San Diego?

OH, I didn't know about hotwiresavingsclub.com -- I'll have to take a look. Thanks!

Southwest does fly out of SAN .. but American is usually just a bit less. (For our upcoming Dec trip one couple is flying AA .. the other SW. Our times are similar for both directions ... but AA was about $24 less on the total. We see the $99 fare for the outbound leg ... but can't seem to get it for the return. No big!)

Yes, I saw the Hotel Del. Pretty cool!

 

[rinkwide]

Originally posted by LeftCoaster
I love Ontario airport.

I second that.

Nice, new airport, Easy in, easy out, low stress.

All you SWA fans: How many stops are there on your flights from CA to MCO? 3 seperate flights were required last time I checked.

I just can't justify a flight plan like that no matter how low the price. It takes too much out of you, epecially when traveling with small children. By the time you get there, usually quite late in the day, your exausted (but not sleepy ). My vacation time is too valuable for that.

 

[bwvBound]

Originally posted by rinkwide
All you SWA fans: How many stops are there on your flights from CA to MCO? 3 seperate flights were required last time I checked.

Indeed, stops and flight configurations were another reason we opted for AA. We'll fly a brief commuter flight SAN/LAX ... with a non-stop LAX/MCO. Our SW buddies will change planes in PHX on the outbound (not bad) ... but will change twice on the return (matching your 3 segmented flight).

 

[M's_girl]

bwvBound--Good to see another person from San Diego. We are in La Mesa.

My husband and I bought 200 BWV points in 1996 and then added 100 WLV in 2000--right after our son was born. We try and go back once evey other year--huge trip this December from the 4th-23rd--and then do smaller trips to DL when we need a fix.

We are flying SW in December. When I found they had a non-stop I was in. I got the $$99 for the trip there and $159 for the trip back. My parents, who are going with us, got $99 each way. Mom is retired and can spend more time online than I can.

 

[dairyou]

Hi,

We're also from California. We live in Elk Grove just about 15 minutes south of Sacramento.

We just purchased this last October and wished we would have bought sooner! We've gone to Florida every year since 2000. That one time hooked us in!

We would have saved so much money if we bought DVC in 2000. Oh well, you live and learn

Visiting home for the first time in December. We can't wait to go!

Deb

 

[Califgirl]

We're DVC owners here in Vista, CA. We bought 150 points in 1998, figuring we'd get back east about every other year. That's been working pretty well for us. We enjoy going to both Hilton Head and Disneyworld. Generally we fly out of San Diego, but will fly out of John Wayne Airport if it is cheaper. In general we like to fly Southwest.

We also own two other timeshares, one a Westin (in Mission Hills, CA). We used it to go to the new Westin Maui this May. It's a really nice resort. The airfare to Maui was outrageous, in my opinion. Nearly double of what it is to the east coast.

We also use our DVC points to go to the Grand Calif. at Disneyland. I know others say it is not worth it to them, but I would never bother to stay overnight at Disneyland, let alone at the Grand Calif if I was shelling out cash. (I'm only an hour from Disneyland, but a 2 day trip makes it so much nicer, especially when taking friends or family)

So, yes buying DVC can work for you if you live on the West Coast. You just need to decide if you want a lot of points in order to go more often, or to stay longer once you get there.
However, you can get by on a 150 point contract, especially if you choose to go only every other year.

Enjoy life and great vacations!
Chris

 

[Barreras Family]

I've been thinking of having a CA roll call thanks for starting it Neiman 5.

We got started with DVC in 2003 and have been back 2 times to date and are going again in October. .

Afterall it's cheaper to fly to FL and stay at "home" than to travel to the Central Coast and stay for a week there.

We have the best of both worlds. We have DVC and live about 6 min. from Ontario. We love that airport too. Actually we can't find anyone to drive us to LAX anymore.

We started with 210 BCV points and just added 100 more SSR points. WE caught the bug bad. 310 combined points is fine for now

Rudy
aka Piglet's daddy

 

[LeftCoaster]

Originally posted by rinkwide
I second that.

Nice, new airport, Easy in, easy out, low stress.

All you SWA fans: How many stops are there on your flights from CA to MCO? 3 seperate flights were required last time I checked.

I just can't justify a flight plan like that no matter how low the price. It takes too much out of you, epecially when traveling with small children. By the time you get there, usually quite late in the day, your exausted (but not sleepy ). My vacation time is too valuable for that.

Flying to Orlando is the one time I use LAX. haha. I take first flight out in the a.m. Usually around 6:45 am and arrive in at MCO around 3:30. There's always a brief stop but, don't have to change planes. On the return, there's usually a flight around 4:30 and I'll get back to LAX around 7:30. Once again, just a brief stop.... Usually Albuquerque. I would still prefer to fly out of Ontario. However, the flights times from LAX to MCO are a LOT better.
For me, SWA works out great but, it doesn't work for everyone. See what times you like to fly and see what is available.

 

[LeftCoaster]

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[LeftCoaster]

Sorry. computer locked up.

 

[LeftCoaster]

Originally posted by AFMom
I lived in CA (in the foothills,,,, anyone heard of Auburn?) for 25 years until my husband was stationed to FL, then TX, then SD, then OK, and now we're in southern AL. All of that moving in 4.5 years with our two kids! I really miss it there - but don't miss the prices! Went to DL all the time, and miss that as well! That's the main reason we're buying into DVC - to make sure that no matter where we are in the country we'll make a point to get to Disney at least every other year. Does anyone know if there are any DVC discounts at DL or CA Adv? Restaurants, et cetera?

No DVC discounts at DLR. BTW, my parents are in Roseville and my BIL's family is in Auburn.

 

[TravelingJen24]

From Fresno, Ca here where it is Hot, Hot, Hot right now.

 

[Sarangel]

DH & I are members at BWV since 2000 (we bought on our first trip to WDW). We live 2 blocks outside of San Francisco city limits in Daly City.

We have a 200 pt contract, and go at least every other year. We've been on 2 mega-trips (2 weeks in a 2 bedroom with friends and/or family), and a couple of smaller trips.

We also own a timeshare out here on the west coast - Trendwest. We use it to stay near Disneyland, go to Hawaii, or take weekend jaunts (Clear Lake, Oregon, Washington). We generally trade years, one vacation on the west coast, one vacation on the east coast. I'm sure things will change some now that we have a DD (14 months), but we really enjoy the flexibility of point based timeshares and the ability to take friends.