DVC owners who are teachers...

[Lisa96]

I stayed at VWL recently and really loved it. (Thanks to some lovely people I "met" on this board ) I've been thinking about buying into DVC for a while now, but I'm finally finished with my teaching degree - so a new job will mean a new vacation schedule. I've always visited WDW in the off season, but that won't be possible now (and summer in FLA is not my favorite season!)
Are there any owners who also teach grade school who can give me some feedback/advice? Do you feel you get a good value from DVC even if usage is during busy periods? And how busy is it during school vacation times? Are there any vacation periods that are lighter or home resorts that are less crowded? Anything you can tell me about I'd appreciate. Thanks in advance!

 

[Mary Anne]

Well I'm not a teacher but I do not take my children out of school so therefore we travel on school vacations and holiday's.

I go Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, end of August (We don't go back to school in NYC till 3 to 7 days AFTER labor day).

Chistmas and Easter are peak point period. That said, we ill not skimp on a studio and we still get a one bedroom for the 4 of us. Sometimes we pay cash for the week-end to save points, sometimes like this past Easter I just paid the 76 odd points for one week-end night.

End of August into September points are much lower. Next due to the way Sept 1st falls (and points drop) we can stay 9 nights at OKW in a one bedroom for just 215 points.

The crowds don't bother me. We take our time and always come home with everything done on our "Disney Too Do List"

Our home is BoardWalk and I have never had a problem getting OKWest at Easter time at even 3/4 months out. I do usually need to be wait listed one or two nights but the wait list has ALWAYS come through that time of year.

We don't regret buying at all. We only regret not buying 100 more points to begin with.

 

[sparty]

My wife is a teacher and we recently bought into the BCV this year. We traveled to WDW with our 3 year old son on her Winter Break before buying DVC and stayed at All-Star Sports. She gets a week in February (President Week) which is common in Michigan. We absolutely loved it. Weather was perfect (60-70 at night, 80's during the day). Crowds were low. In my opinion, midweek point usage is good anytime of the year. I think DVC is a good value even if you are tied into certain times of the year. After staying at All-Star Sports and having to eat three meals a day at the parks it made DVC look very inviting. Not that All-Star Sports was bad, but it definitely isn't on the same par as the deluxe resorts.

 

[Debby7]

I am a kindergarten teacher in a fairly small school district. Since I almost never miss a day and have been teaching in the district for 25 years, I take a week off(with pay)the 2nd week of December every year. I know this is an unusually liberal situation, but having just been in the summer , I am glad I can go off season.

 

[mouseclick1]

I am a teacher and always travel during school break times. We have gone in the summer, Easter (before joining DVC), February break, and are heading down over Christmas this year for the first time. I have found the February break to be the lightest crowd-wise, though the weather can be unpredictable at that time. April had the nicest weather, but obviously heavier crowds. Summer was hot and fairly crowded; didn't bother me but it did bother others in our party. I am still very happy with our purchase after 3 years of membership and consider DVC a good value.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Lots of us DVC owners are teachers. I teach first grade in a rural Michigan school, and have gone to Disney every year since 1976. We finally bought DVC in 1997, and it has been an excellent value. I always go at Christmas, Easter, and in the summer. For many western Michigan schools, we have a fixed Easter week, the first full week in April. I love that, because the points are usually lower, and there are not nearly as many people since Easter usually falls at the end of April. The Easter vacation really does depend on the area of the country that you teach in--in any case, it's the two weeks around Easter that are the busiest. In 2005 Easter falls in March again, meaning it hits my spring vacation, and it's horribly crowded when that happens.

In any event, a studio costs me about $65 per night, including dues, so it's a good value no matter when I vacation, except perhaps at Christmas. It's ceertainly an option for you--as a teacher, you will have enough vacation time available that you can use it as often as you want!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I would think that DVC is ideal for teachers because school districts lock down annual calendars way in advance, so it's easy to make reservations at the 11-month point. In contrast, people with corporate jobs are often at the mercy of unexpected projects with tight deadlines, coordination of vacations with others in their departments, and conflicts with business commitments outside of their personal control.

Many of us who are not teachers are also tied to school calendars because we have kids in school. In our case, depending on when Christmas falls, there's often a week of vacation before Christmas. That's an ideal time to take a DVC vacation. The points go far, and the parks are much less crowded than between Christmas and New Years. Our spring break is in late March, and is not tied to Easter. Unless Easter week happens to overlap with our spring break, that's another good time to go. And, after avoiding summer for many years, we finally tried a summer WDW vacation. It really wasn't as bad as I expected; there's lots air conditioning. and it's great pool weather.

 

[gmboy95]

My wife is a teacher, and we find DVC to be ideal...it means we never have to take the kids out of school, and we know every year when we are going. We Can plan ahead more readily that way.....if you can handle the heat, then being a teacher is ideal, and you can travel in the summer.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I am a school administrator and DVC is great for those of us who have to follow the school calendar. I save thousands of dollars by being a DVC member. The school vacation periods are rarely times when their are good discount codes available for rooms at WDW. We always paid top dollar to go during these periods. Next Christmas/New Year's would have cost us over $10,000.00 for two connecting rooms for 10 nights at the Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge. Instead we can go on points and can afford this very expensive time of year and have a two bedroom unit for the 6 people in our family.

The same goes for room prices for Presidents' week and Easter vacation.

HBC

 

[june@imsarc.com]

I'm a DVC owner, as well as a teacher. I take a week off every year during various off-season times. I usually take a couple personal days and a couple of days without pay, which my School Board approves.

 

[JulieWent]

I teach in Alabama. Our year usually finishes about a week before Memorial Day, so, if we choose to, we can still hit WDW before "peak" season.

Last year, though, we discovered the most wonderful thing: We absolutely love being at Disney for New Year's Eve. We have a son (age 8), and our celebrations at the New Year have always been relatively family oriented and subdued. Being at WDW allows us all to "party." As someone said earlier, I would definitely NOT be able to afford a 6-day-long trip to WDW during this season. (I checked at the Poly for NYE because we thought about switching over for a day or so this next year: $600 per night!) So, DVC works out great for us.

I was also able to take my mother, nephew, and son down for "just a quickie" in late July. We had lots of time and nothing planned, so I just called about a month out and got a 2BR at OKW for three nights. It was a wonderful "little holiday" that got us all ready to go back to school. (I started today. The kids come back on Tuesday.)

Julie

 

[gracelrm]

My DH and I are both teachers and DVC has worked well for us. We live in Kentucky and our school starts early in August (We began yesterday :-( but we have a week of fall break in October, 2 weeks at Christmas, and Spring Break in late March/Early April. We are also usually finished with school by the end of May ( unless there is snow that has us making up days until JUNE!!!) I know, I know those of you from the North think that's crazy to be out for snow. Anyway, we usually travel to WDW the first of June and don't mind the heat too much. We also use fall break for a three or four night trip to HHI or VB. Some year, we'll even spend Christmas Break at WDW too! I think DVC is a perfect fit with our schedules.

 

[ncligs]

DW is a High School teacher, and gets 4 personal days a year. So she uses them during President's week(Feb) for 5-6 days the last 4 years. The crowds aren't that bad at the parks, but we usually only do 1 park on each trip. We just like to get away from the cold

of Ohio for a while.

 

[lovespugs]

DH just decided to go back to school to be a HS teacher (currently a computer programmer - will take a while because not much correlation between the first degree and the second ) When we bought DVC we only bought 150 points because we always vacation during the off season and we only need a studio for the two of us.

We've pretty much decided that when he graduates we will celebrate with an add on to allow us to take a long trip in the summer, or occasionally a summer trip and a Christmas trip. I was concerned at first about going when it's hot and crowded after being used to the off season. (DH: "Honey, I think I want to go back to school to be a teacher." Me: "Oh no! We won't be able to go to WDW in the off season anymore!") However, it's a small price to pay for DH to have a job that makes him happy. Plus, with 39 more years of vacations to look forward to, there is no pressure to tear myself away from the pool if it's too hot for the parks!

Good to see there are so many teachers here!

 

[RLevy29]

I am also a teacher and have found DVC to be great. We have used our points in the following ways:
OKW 7/01 - 8 nights in a 1-BR
HH 12/01 6 nights in a 1- BR (winter break)
GC in Disneyland 4/02 2 nts. points 2 nights cash (spring break)
VB 7/03 4 nights Ocean view inn room
OKW 7/03 5 nights 1-BR
Our district has an extremely strict policy about using personal days, so for me this is not an option. I do like the fact that we can plan in advance. I never plan anything for June in case we have to make up snow days. I can't plan anything for the end of August, either because we are only allowed to get into our class rooms to set up for the year the last week of August.
To Lisa96:
Congratulations on earning your teaching degree. I think that buying into DVC is a great way to celebrate!

 

[nisiemouse]

gracelrm: What part of Kentucky do you live in? They keep proposing a fall break for us and it keeps being turned down. We are planning to try the first week of June this year. We are supposed to get out May 23 but will wait a week to go in case of snow.

 

[waltskids]

My DH teaches middle school music and I teach 3rd grade in the suburbs of South Jersey. We actually like going in the summer b/c of the extended hours. The heat doesn't bother us, but if it is hot, the extended hours allow us to take a break in the middle of the day. We are also going during Christmas break this year. Our school district (we both work for the same one) does not have a winter or spring break, so spring is out for us. We have also been there for a short trip twice in November during the teacher's convention (our district does not pay us for those days, nor requires us to attend). We realize that all of these times are really busy at WDW but we'll go in the winter when we retire!! DVC has really worked out well for us.

 

[jekjones1558]

Because I am a teacher in Minnesota, we always fly to Florida during breaks rather than drive. While it is easy to book stays 11 months out during busy weeks (like Dec. 25-Jan. 1 or week before Easter), it is hard to get cheap airfare this far ahead, especially if you want to fly nonstop and/or NOT fly charter. It can be risky to wait to book air for peak periods. Driving may be more of an option for you. Despite this disadvantage I would never give up my DVC membership. While we use more points during high season, we also paid big bucks when we were going on cash before joining DVC. We've added on already and are planning another add-on.