DVC Owners: What made you decide to buy?

[pb4ugo]

buy = control; rent = no control; so we bought.

dh is retired and i will be in 5/6 years; paying now for opportunities to travel later as opposed to hoping that we can afford to travel with pension and social security cash made sense to us. it should be easier to pay for maintenance than for a full-blown vacation! and being able to leave our membership to an heir seemed like a good idea, too.

we stayed with friends last year in an okw 2br villa and decided that the resort and accomodations were right up our alley - they met our travel/vacation requirements.

the dvc timeshare program is more appealing to us than is purchasing a vacation week somewhere. and the dvc will provide the oppty to trade out when we are both retired and not subject to any travel restrictions like working!

and lastly, the friends and family promotion of 15% off with referral and extra years of membership with an ssr purchase clinched the decision making process for us.

 

[WDWLVR]

We had gotten to the point where we were visiting every year. When we found ourself being able to afford it we looked at it carefully. We talked to our guide and made plans to visit WDW and take the tour. It was a quick weekend trip staying at All Stars. One look at the one bedroom at BWV and we were sold. That was January 2000. Since then we have take a number of trips and stayed at BWV, OKW, VWL, BCV and on a number of cruises. We've stayed in a studio, a one bedroom and a two bedroom when we brought my in-laws. We've also treated my in-laws to a week at Vero (they really aren't Disney people). We don't regret our decision at all! As it says in my signature - I love my DVC!

 

[kretsebr]

I bought after a number times talking to a friend that I worked with. He showed the numbers, that help tip the scale, also with us being financially set. But I do believe it was the mind set of being able to save with a number of vacations over time to WDW, was the big turning point.

 

[iankh]

I first looked at DVC back in about 1992 or so. I think they were selling BWV. My partner then talked me out of the idea of buying.

We tended to go down every 12 to 18 months to WDW, but did not go down from 2001 to just last year, because most of our time was consumed taking care of my elderly father. After my father passed away, we started thinking about vacations again.

I turned 49 in 2004 and was wondering how to I was going to celebrate my 50th birthday. I was attending a conference in WDW staying at the Dolphin and it hit me, I'll thow myself a party in WDW.

I got to planning the party and looking at room rates at WL, which is where we preferred to stay. I was shocked at how much rates had jumped since the last time we had a vacation in 2001.

In planning for my party I found DIS and then learned that DVC had opened VWL while we had had our 4 year hiatus from vacation.

I did the math and looked into resales. I realized that by buying into DVC we would have a hedge against rising vacation costs. Plus we could plan vacations with friends, family and grandkids and afford to bring along the people we like.

Another motivation was that it would force us to take a decent vacation, rather than taking days off from work and staying home.

So, I closed a year ago on our VWL resale. Added on, and most recently added on points at BWV, so we could have something in the Epcot neighborhood.

We haven't regretted it for a minute. I had a fabulous 50th birthday party in WDW last August, and a great trip for NYE when we stayed at BCV.

(In between came the AP's and DDE, so there was even more incentive to take vacation).

We've got 2 weeks planned in December split between, BWV and VWL, and enough points for another small trip. We're also planning a vacation with the grandkids in 2007.

So, for us, I would say it worked, great accomodations, we get to bring great company, and we are finally taking the time to have decent vacations once again.

 

[Boda]

We bought for the rooms. We have three kids (and will likely have one more) and plan on going to Disney many times while they are growing up. When you compare the cost of a two-bedroom DVC to renting two hotel rooms (or one suite) at a comparable Disney resort, you are at worst breaking even, and are likely saving money with DVC. Add to that the fact that a two-bedroom DVC is preferable to two standard hotel rooms or a typical suite (especially the kitchen aspect) and it wasn't a hard decision.

 

[sajetto]

We bought in b/c we are young and had enough money in the bank. We knew that once we had kids we might put it off b/c of all the expenses children can bring. We are very happy with our decision b/c now we can take our yearly vacation without worrying if we've got the cash to do it.

 

[zzyzx409]

We bought back in 1994. We stayed at what was then The Disney Vacation Club, the only Vacation Club resort which became the Old Key West Resort. We stayed in a One-BR that year and really enjoyed it. We like the qualty, the low key sales presentaton, and the fact that we could have pre-paid Disney vacations. My wife really liked the idea that we did not have to just go to WDW, the sales presentation made it sound as if trades were faily easy and common-place and since DVC had so many trading partners you could get anything, anywhere in the world. Well, that's not quite true, but we still like OKW. We often use OKW as a standard when comparing accomdations anywhere we go.

We went to WDW 12 times between 1994 and 2004, we haven't been since 2004, but hope to get back soon.

I know, TMI!

Later,


Andy

 

[Mrs Potato Head]

For us, we toured DVC twice before I was able to convince my DH. My DH's family owns a timeshare in Orlando, so it was a hard sell to convince him to spend money on lodging when we had free lodging whenever we went.

So...I waited him out. It really started to add up with the rental cars, parking $, and the lost time in the parks with having to run back to an off-site property. You don't think about how much extra time you get in the parks if you don't have to factor in time to get to an off-site property. Not to mention the getting lost part, and finding your car after a long day of park-hopping.

So...in the end, I just stopped a couple DVC booths while on our January trip, and asked some questions to bring my info up to date. Dh was skeptical, but listened. I then made an appointment to go to talk to someone for current pricing. Friends and Family really helped the deal, but...Dh still didn't bite at the first appointment. By the next morning, he'd talked himself out of it.

Then we started looking at WDW from an "owner" point of view - discounts you got, the great resorts...advance notice of things - yeah, those white lanyards from the special opening that Expedition Everest riders had in January - the little things started getting to us!

He signed the papers three hours before our plane took off for home. That was 2/1/06. Now, today, he is thinking about adding on....

I think I did good....one of my best accomplishments of my married career. Oh, and did I tell you I have three more trips planned back this year?

 

[Bama Penguin]

#2 Flexibility of the DVC point system
#3 Projected cost of future lodging compared to pre paid DVC
#4 Potential for exchanges for other locations once (if ever) the grandkids grow up or the magic is gone
#5 on and on and on..........

 

[mikesmom]

- We were going to Florida at least every 2 out of 3 years.
- sharing a room with DS was not our idea of a vacation so we were getting 2 adjoining rooms offsite or Embassy Suite type accomodations
- we enjoy having our snacks, bottle of wine, pot of coffee in our room and had always dragged a cooler to regular hotel rooms to manage this
- we stayed at BWV in a 1 bedroom "just this once" back in 2000. We wren't in that room 5 minutes before DH was ready to take the sales tour

In other words, economics, space, kitchen and privacy! We have never regretted it.

 

[Joni]

We stayed at BWV 6 years ago in a studio standard view. It was my son, husband and I and we were not DVC members. While waiting for dinner at Cape May I started talking to a DVC rep. Had always thought it was way beyond our means but was just making polite small talk. At some time she meantioned what 150 points would cost and I was so surprised. Later told my husband and we decided to set up a tour. I kept mentioning to him how much we were paying for the rooms at the BWV this vacation. I know it was over $3,000.00 for 9 days and that was back in 2000. And that was just a studio.
We went back home from that vacation and talked our friends into doing it with us. We both bought 150 points at BWV's. A year later we both added on another 150 points at BCR. That fit us just fine because we could stay 2 weeks in a studio by borrowing and banking. Last year stayed at OKW in a 2-bedroom with some of my family. Bad idea because will probably never go back to a studio if we don't have to. Came home and bought 300 points at OKW. We have been to WDW so many times its to bad we didn't own sooner because we would have saved so much money. The best thing after vacation is leaving without a bill. I'm glad the dues are not close to vacation so we've already forgotten about that. I'm sure if we figured it all out maybe we could save doing it other ways but thats not what our vacation is about. We work really hard. We work long hours and hardly ever take a day off. My husband is to work every day at 5 or 6 in the morning. When we get to WDW we just relax and do whatever we want.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

1. The cost to stay Deluxe 6 nights presidents week was $2800. Since we have kids its only going to get harder and harder taking them out of school for vacation, so we have to go when they have their school vacations.

2. Being able to stay Deluxe all the time. I've stayed value and it just doesnt' do it for us, however, since I'm frugal I KNOW thats where we would end up. For us the Deluxe resorts just add to the Magic!!

3. Being able to go whenever WE want. Even though certain weeks are more then others its okay because we will only be going presidents week for the next 12 years and after that we can take advantage of the lower point weeks.

4. Knowing we will be going to Disney every year

5. Knowing that I don't have to come up for $3000 for accomodations every vacation. The tickets, plane fare and meals are expensive enough!!

6. Knowing that we can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner in the room,(if we want to), do our wash in our room (this is a big one, because you no longer have to overpack!!) stay up past the kids bed time Actually enjoy our room, being able to sit out on the balcony and being able to spread out and have our own space.

 

[jpolak]

We looked at DVC way back in 98 and were very tempted then. Since we were on our honeymoon and didn't really have two nickles to rub together we decided to wait. After toying with the idea several times we decided to rent and check it out first hand. Combine that with the "Friends and Family" promo and we were in.

 

[YesYourMajesty]

We knew we wanted to have kids in the future and liked the idea of having family trips paid for (or mostly paid for) before they were even born. Incidentally, we probably wont have kids for a couple more years, so in the mean time, we are enjoying our trips there as a couple.

 

[loveswdw]

We took the tour at BWV in 1999. Our guide showed us a grand villa. We had stayed previously at ASMu and were currently at POFQ. After seeing that Grand Villa we knew DVC was a must for us!

That's all it took. Well, that and 4 more years to make the financial commitment!

 

[SWVA BGSU Fan]

We were taking regular trips to WDW. DVC seemed to fit our needs and offered another compelling reason to see the mouse......Like we needed one

 

[Pluto4Pres]

Easy - Free park passes from 1992-1999.

 

[simzac]

I had been interested in DVC since 1996 when I first heard about it. Money always prevented us from joining. This year, everything changed. We could afford to join, so we did. I don't look at it as a bad investment at all since we love Disney and WDW so much. A lifetime of great vacations is how I look at it.

 

[solgent]

40th birthday plus promotion and raise.

We are not one of those families that was going every year and it just makes sense to do it. This is something special and different and new and exciting that we are doing, a gift for ourselves for the future.

 

[JimC]

We bought because we looked at the numbers and decided we could enjoy a one bedroom villa for approximately the same cost of moderate resort room. We visit often and the combination of AP and DVC works very well for us.