DVC Vacation Evolution

[beccasmom]

We were fortunate because we received free park tickets through 1999 when we purchased in 1992. Before that we usually purchased “no expiration” tickets. So we certainly made the most of the free tickets - and we were young and energetic enough for marathon days at the parks.

We still visit the parks, but don’t feel an urgency to go every day or even stay there all day. It kind of depends with whom we travel - with the grandkids, the parks are a definite focus and it’s such fun to see it all again through their eyes. But if it is just the two of us, trips are more leisurely. We enjoy exploring the resorts - both old and new - and the DVC properties are comfortable and perfect for some well-earned relaxation.

 

[paults]

we bought in 2002 and went 3 times a year with APs. That stopped couple years before Covid. With the prices now we will only go once a year , maybe.

 

[matt and beth]

It started as the parks as the primary focus and its evolved over the years as the kids grew up. We do less parks and have ventured out more. Boardwalk and its entertainment including Jellyrolls. Food and Wine festival. Added some water park days. Golfing on the courses. RunDisney races. Fishing excursions on the Lakes. Diving in the Finding Nemo Tank. More pool time. More time at DS. Now that we’ve experienced most of what Disney has to offer, and because we have a rental because ME is gone, I think we will use that rental and see what universal has to offer. Guessing this fall or early next year will be a DVC stay but Universal Parks trip. The next evolution!

 

[Cfabar1]

We didn't buy for parks - we bought early at HHI. Parks was a secondary perk. We visited parks every 2-3 years until DCL arrived and kids were more interested in cruising.

Now with adult children, in- law children and grands, we visit HHI with whole family about once every 3 years. Have first all family cruise (to Alaska!) booked in 2026. Been to the parks once with grands. Miserable for adults, "meh" for kids. Too much crowds, waiting around and phone checking for the next open slot.

Spouse and I go down to WDW and Vero for a few weeks every winter but even that's getting a little old. We used to trade out for other locations but II seems more complicated and less available. We probably just haven't tried hard enough.

It is much harder…. And less a focus of the program….

 

[Cfabar1]

We used to go 1-3 nights fairly often…. Maybe every month or so… We bought with that idea in mind, and thought a studio would be perfect…

DVC has had us switch our thinking entirely…. Now we go fewer times a year, but always in a large unit. We have enough DVC points for that to be with DVC some of the time, and other times we use Marriott or Hyatt points to stay nearby and in larger rooms.

Our days of normal hotel rooms are quickly winding down.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’ve effectively been a member since childhood, when my parents bought in the first year it was offered, and DH and I bought in about 10 years ago. As a child with my DVC parents and til this day with my own family we just do Disney once a year, almost always a 2 week trip and we usually do a park every day except for maybe one. I do love the resorts but we go to Disney for the parks, and I can’t imagine being so close and not going in. Yes I’ve been to the parks a thousand times but each time I enter a park it still feels magical and until it stops feeling that way, I’ll continue visiting the parks as frequently as I can. We take beach vacations to relax, Disney we visit for the parks.

 

[VGCgroupie]

We go way more often now and expanded our horizons to other places too, like Hawaii. I cant wait to try out VB and HHI in the future too

 

[tom1944]

We've only been DVC owners since 2023. And only taken 3 DVC trips so far. Which is so say...our Disney vacation style hasn't changed much yet. We are starting to add in a "break" day on upcoming trips though.

We also bought in 2023 and after that first trip, we knew it will be 2 park days and then a free day and back to 2 park days.
We did a 9-day trip last year and the 2/1 schedule was great.

 

[Chuck S]

I've owned for 32 years. It really depends upon who I'm traveling with, Most of the times, they are park heavy trips. But solo trips are often more relaxing and centered around visiting other resort for nice meals or Disney Springs.
But even solo trips, I spend about 1/2 day ay MK, and 1/2 Day at EPCOT, as I have an AP. If rental cars weren't so gosh darn expensive, I'd go see more local sight, and more classic "old Florida" sights, like GaterLand or Weeki Wachee Springs.
Gone are the days of $150 week rentals, sadly. Glad I was able to see some local stuff years ago, when rental cars were "cheap" like Cypress Gardens (now LegoLand), the defunct Splendid China, and Bush Gardens.

 

[BennyBoyWrench]

Where do I begin? When we first bought DVC it was to have magical experiences with our children and it was.We didn't have AP's but we did have NoExp. tickets and Tables In Wonderland which gave us 20% off meals and cocktails.These all helped to keep our visits manageable,in fact we still have some park days left on our No Exp tickets.
Then the kids grew up went to schools and developed their own lives.That period was more about going to WDW and relaxing going to the parks occasionally,having good meals, Cirque du Soleil ,we even had an anniversary dinner at Victoria & Alberts and that was a real treat.
Now we have 2 graandprincesses with more on the way and the love of Disney is strong in them.Bigger rooms more pool time and princess time.So for us we're kinda right back where we were 20 years ago and loving it.

We actually visit WDW less often than before we joined DVC. We’re so tied to our 100 points, whereas before we’d visit the All Stars whenever the opportunity arose. However, it’s really changed our focus: we were rope drop to last bus, but nowadays we’re far more relaxed, visit the parks when we want, sometimes not at all. It’s a mindset that the non-DVC portion of our family cannot comprehend.

 

[BeachClub2014]

We've owned DVC for over 20 years now. We bought in for the whole "package" and not just a focus on the parks. We were never really park-warrior type people. The kids were young, we all loved WDW, and we wanted to lock in our "savings of up to 50% off our accommodations" (That's a hoot), etc. In hindsight, we bought DVC for the accommodations a family of our size would need and knew we didn't want to keep paying cash forever.

In hindsight, I think the biggest reason we made the leap was that it "forced" us to take the family vacations that otherwise may have been pushed back or not taken.

 

[Dobermanns]

Parks were never the focus for us. RunDisney races and friends gained through those events were. After several years of cash stays and crunching numbers, we bought in 2016. During the early years of Dopey, I literally would have no real park days except to meet up with friends for pre- and/or post race meals. This was true on both coasts. The exception was MNSSHP, MVMCP and DVC MM trips (I made short 3-night trips for these some years).
Then the pandemic changed things for me. I saw the light of going with no races or no long distance involved where I could hang out at the parks (still not ride-focused) and eat whatever/whenever I wanted. So now it’s longer trips with shorter distances and parties at WDW for the restaurants and pool time, more staycations (just-cabana-and-pool types with my besties who are also VGC owners) at DLR and 2-3 trips a year in one-beds at AUL.

For the future I see us using hotel exchanges. Need to learn more about that (seems cool and useful when guide showed us). Hubs wants more international travel (he’s good with Disney being part of it and I want the entire trip to be Disney LOL).

Edited to add future plans.

 

[mrandmrsthomas0618]

We bought this year and a big reason was because we are less focused on the parks and more focused on resort time. Rented points at GF and Poly recently and loved hanging there so DVC felt like a great way for us to explore more deluxe resorts. We still enjoy the parks but rope drop days are things of the past for us.

 

[CraigInPA]

After the first few years, we shed the "park warrior" (be there at rope drop, leave when the park closes) mantle and became a lot more laid back. Now it's sleep in, wander over to the park, maybe ride a few rides (and if we have to wait too long, we'll just come back another day), have something to eat, walk around the shops, watch the parades, see some fireworks, take a day off from parks for Disney Springs or other shopping, perhaps a day or two at Universal, or a day at the pool if it's nice. Since our trips are long (9-15 nights), we don't feel like we have to get everything into every day.

 

[Headless]

We bought knowing we wanted to keep going back on a regular basis. From the moment the wife and I took our first trip together we loved 'the Disney bubble' and we knew we would want to be fully immersed each trip. While we are still very much about the parks as much as everything else our pace has completely changed. Rope drop to fireworks has bled into lazy breakfast in the room followed by a couple hours in a park with a nap or pool time in the afternoon and another park in the evening unless we have a dining reservation.

Biggest change in the 4 years we've been doing this has been adding enough points to ensure we can have the 1 bedroom as well as flexibility with doing those split stays. Just yesterday my wife saw a video of the Beach and Yacht club pool and put it to the top of her want list in a split stay. We plan on enjoying this for as many years as we can.

 

[Cfabar1]

Definitely see a common theme that DVC owners are not really “park warrior” types… Which makes sense to me… a true park warrior doesn’t need much other than being in the park!

 

[Girlstar30]

Definitely see a common theme that DVC owners are not really “park warrior” types… Which makes sense to me… a true park warrior doesn’t need much other than being in the park!

Were paying so much for the hotels i want to feel like we're getting "our money's worth" plus some of those hotel restaurants are better than the park! I like to rotate park day and then chill at the hotel and then park day etc

 

[Cfabar1]

Were paying so much for the hotels i want to feel like we're getting "our money's worth" plus some of those hotel restaurants are better than the park! I like to rotate park day and then chill at the hotel and then park day etc

So true about the restaurants… we almost never eat in the parks anymore… Animal Kingdom has a couple exceptions we still frequent which is quite funny given the history of the park!

 

[Girlstar30]

So true about the restaurants… we almost never eat in the parks anymore… Animal Kingdom has a couple exceptions we still frequent which is quite funny given the history of the park!

I agree with you on animal kingdom! I like yak and yetis a lot and tiffins. I snack in the parks at MK like I had the werthers Casey Jr popcorn that I thought was good last time and they had this rapunzel fantasyland ice cream I thought was good too but I have a hard time finding good qs, I wonder why that is. And I love pizza and can't figure out why they don't offer a good one I mean how can you mess up pizza lol same with Cheeseburgers, shouldn't be so hard to find a good one at least one good place. I know they're capable of good food, so what gives

 

[glencoe]

We literally bought in 2012 for the space!! As a family of 5 we knew space would be an issue in a standard hotel room as the kids got older. Then our once every other year trips grew to every year. Having a full on kitchen was helpful, yet we never full on cook there! We bought more contracts for an Aulani trip and because we then expanded and brought extended family, my son did the Disney college program, and we bought AP. Buying AP was the turning point that allowed us to do a few hours in the park and leave with no regrets. Now my son moved to FL. So I am there almost every month (from NY).
I think the change in park visits was more because of AP. The freedom to not feel that pressure to get your money worth is huge. Having DVC helped us also do more activities out of the parks and other activities knowing we will be coming back. I relax more on my WDW trips knowing I will be back and can re-visit.
Even with my many visits I seem to always miss the Moonlight Magic events! So even though we have Direct (and resale) we only seem to take advantage of the discounted (slightly) AP purchase.