Help! I'd rather go to Disney!

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Sis and BIL have invited us to spend a week with them on the beach at Gulf Shores, Alabama in July.

We said yes, BUT as the trip gets closer and closer...I'm just not that excited. I'm not thin, and wouldn't be caught dead in a bathing suit of any kind.

When we all went to Disney, using my DVC, I made a really big deal that nobody could back out. Sis and BIL are convinced that we will love the beach even more than Disney.

We do enjoy Hilton Head in the dead of winter, but only spend a fraction of our time at the beach looking at water.

Anyway...terrible problem (ha ha) I'm stuck with a Summer beach vacation.

Can anyone offer suggestions, convince me that I'll have a good time, or AT LEAST tell me I'm not nuts. Am I the only DVC DISSER who only wants to go to Walt Disney World?

 

[wildernessDad]

Sis and BIL do not understand the desires of a DVC member very well.

 

[spiceycat]

believe me you are not alone.

live in ALa and would rather go to WDW than Ala gulf. Of course like the panhandle in Florida.

one thing about Ala - several of us are pretty heavy. So don't expect only thin women or men for that matter on the beach.

take your bathing suit - even if you have to buy one. the water is pretty nice.

think Ala is first or second for being the fatest state. so there are lots of big bodies in the swimming pools.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Sis and BIL do not understand the desires of a DVC member very well.

Thanks for the understanding.

Yeah, the outside of our "condo" looks like a high rise parking garage, or at best what BLT looked like 6 months ago.



I understand that they build these buildings plain, because one good hurricane will wipe them out...but I don't like plain.

 

[circhead]

I'd rather go to Disney than do a beach vacation. My alabaster skin hasn't been exposed to the sun in 30 years. I can get a suburn walking to the corner to mail a letter. I also can't use sunscreens I'm alergic to them.

However, you will have fun. You'll be with people you enjoy spending time with. You showed them what you love to do now they want to return the favor and show you what they love to do. If you're like me and your skin and the sun don't mix well rent an umbrella and bring a good book.

I would also bet that you will get some great, fresh seafood.

Enjoy, you will be there for the company not necessarily the beach.

 

[Crystal_27]

I'm sure that you'll have a great time at the beach and it will *definitely* make you appreciate your Disney vacation next year. And, think about it this way: with all of the points you are banking, you can stay longer next year.

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

You are certainly not alone!
Last year my hubby and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We could have chosen to vacation anywhere in the world, but we chose to relax at our "home" AKV. We enjoyed a fabulous time just lounging by the pool and eating at some the fancier restaurants that we never get to go to when our kids are with us. We never even went to the theme parks, just enjoyed what the resort had to offer. I wouldn't change it for a minute!

 

[ILIKEWDW]

I'm sure that you'll have a great time at the beach and it will *definitely* make you appreciate your Disney vacation next year. And, think about it this way: with all of the points you are banking, you can stay longer next year.

Yes, I agree with you. You will have A LOT of points and as a DVCer you MUST use them next year!!!

Don´t worry about the bathing suit. You don´t have to use one when on beach. Just wear shorts or bermudas and a T-shirt and enjoy the sun!!!

I know beach does not make me crazy, I lived more than 15 years at the beach, so no more beach for me, please.

 

[Disney_Villain]

You aren't alone! If my vacations do not have a Disney destination, I am not going. Disney on Broadway in NYC, Paris DL, DL in Anaheim, DCL, WDW . . . these are my vacations. Anything else isn't as fun.

I took a trip to Vegas a few years back, with family. Overall reaction: I would not go back unless I was going to see The Lion King at Mandalay Bay (but I've already seen it several times - so this isn't likely).

The only way I conceded to go to HHI next month was to split the trip with a WDW stay!

 

[taylor3297]

We go to Gulf Shores every June/July depending on how week 26 falls, because my dad bought my sisters and I time shares. I am not a small woman and I put my bathing suit on and have a blast. There are many people who are thinner than I am (my sisters included) and there are many that are larger, but no one seems to care. Also, we don't just hang out by the pool or beach, we go out on the boat, shop, sightsee, and just hang out and chat.

I can't afford a trip to Disney every year, but at least I have my beach trip.

 

[px57chevy]

GIVE THEM LARGE DOSES OF THE KOOL-AID!!!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

However, you will have fun. You'll be with people you enjoy spending time with. You showed them what you love to do now they want to return the favor and show you what they love to do. If you're like me and your skin and the sun don't mix well rent an umbrella and bring a good book.

I would also bet that you will get some great, fresh seafood.

Enjoy, you will be there for the company not necessarily the beach.

You really hit the nail on the head. That is exactly the purpose of the trip. We live away from family and hope that this is something we can start doing from time to time.

I'm pretty excited about eventually showing them Hilton Head, but the time is just not right. Sis wants to always stay ON the beach, so I think she would be disappointed, and with little boys...sightseeing in Savannah doesn't sound great either. The 11 yo kind of wants to learn to play golf...so I'm waiting.

I had to be in Destin for work recently, and from the highway...the beach just looked like a lot of big plain concrete buildings sitting side by side. I know, I know...go in front of the big concrete buildings. I just thought it was all very ugly.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

GIVE THEM LARGE DOSES OF THE KOOL-AID!!!

I think I talked BIL out of it.

He did a spreadsheet and added up all the maintenance fees for 30+ years with a 3% increase per year and of course came out with a gargantuan number.

I could have mentioned Time Value of Money, Inflation, the fact that you can resell it or even the value of family time, but what did I say?

Well, its a commitment.


They were pretty close, but really...they were looking for an excuse not to fall in love with DVC. The economy is pretty crummy right now.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

I have to say that since my family bought DVC other vacations are just not the same. Every place we go we compare it to Disney, and well there is not much that measures up in our experiance. But you are going to be with
family, and as long as you like your family then you will have a wonderful time.

Disney will still be there next year!

 

[circhead]

Go to this thread and show it to Bil.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2137102 - Spreadshhet Fun by EverdayAdam he runs all the numbers in like 12 different combinations and shows how DVC membership will pay for itself in a given number of years.

Good luck - what Bil might have left off are the costs of paying for accomodations on vacation versus prepaying it.

 

[spiceycat]

hope you have fun anyway!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

hope you have fun anyway!

Thanks Pat!

 

[photobob]

I understand completely. When we first started go to WDW, we were going every other year. I always felt like the other vacations paled in comparison. Let's get this vacation out of the way so we can start looking forward to WDW. We then started going every year and finally joined DVC. This is the first year in a long time we aren't going to WDW, we are going to Vero Beach. While I'm looking forward to the trip, I am really looking more forward to going back to WDW!

Our traveling friends were looking for a break from WDW and all of us are happy for a year without ticket purchases. I'm having an expensive year this year and business is a bit slow.