How did you get seriously interested in DVC?

[cruisehopeful]

We've only had 3 DVC stays so far, in this order...

Studio (BRV) - 6 nights
Studio (VGC) - 6 nights
1 Bedroom (BRV) - 7 nights

Our next stay is back in a studio (VGC) for 6 nights. We'll see if I'm less happy in there now that we've experienced a 1-bedroom!

I think it'll depend on how much time you actually spend in the room. For most of my life, I only showered and slept in the room. Nowadays, I will have a meal/snack or a chill out break. I think the biggest pull towards the one bedroom is the second bathroom. My family members spend a lot of time in the shower and on the toilet. The second bathroom makes a huge difference.

 

[Girlstar30]

When i was younger I could care less about the room, but now the room matters, a lot.

 

[mistysue]

We've only had 3 DVC stays so far, in this order...

Studio (BRV) - 6 nights
Studio (VGC) - 6 nights
1 Bedroom (BRV) - 7 nights

Our next stay is back in a studio (VGC) for 6 nights. We'll see if I'm less happy in there now that we've experienced a 1-bedroom!

The first couple times we were happy enough for the studio again... like in the way you react to tent camping after staying in a hotel. Everyone kept a "together we'll make it through" sort of attitude.
It was the stay at the 1 bedroom in Riviera that really did us in. My youngest tried to demand we don't give the room back, he wanted to move in.

 

[VGCgroupie]

We've only had 3 DVC stays so far, in this order...

Studio (BRV) - 6 nights
Studio (VGC) - 6 nights
1 Bedroom (BRV) - 7 nights

Our next stay is back in a studio (VGC) for 6 nights. We'll see if I'm less happy in there now that we've experienced a 1-bedroom!

To circle back from my other response, I think the darkness of the VGC studios is also what made me feel so much like ugh I need out of this tiny room to breathe.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Im willing to bet a dole whip you will be. I know you will still love it, since after all its VGC but it will feel different like you need to step outside to breathe or some feeling like that

For all other non-Disney travel, we're always just in a regular hotel room. So I'm hoping we won't be too bothered with it. But strangely, I think I will mostly miss having a washer/dryer.

I think it'll depend on how much time you actually spend in the room. For most of my life, I only showered and slept in the room. Nowadays, I will have a meal/snack or a chill out break. I think the biggest pull towards the one bedroom is the second bathroom. My family members spend a lot of time in the shower and on the toilet. The second bathroom makes a huge difference.

We spend a decent amount of time in the room. We take our time in the morning, take an afternoon break for a couple hours, and we're usually back in the room by 8:30-9ish a lot of nights. We're just three people so we don't really "need" extra room. But it was definitely nice at BRV. Though it's just 1 toilet there. I'm looking forward to the 1-bedroom at VGC next year. I think that's when I'm definitely need to get more points for 1-bedroom each time. Funny how that seems to happen to most of us.

 

[Girlstar30]

For all other non-Disney travel, we're always just in a regular hotel room. So I'm hoping we won't be too bothered with it. But strangely, I think I will mostly miss having a washer/dryer.



We spend a decent amount of time in the room. We take our time in the morning, take an afternoon break for a couple hours, and we're usually back in the room by 8:30-9ish a lot of nights. We're just three people so we don't really "need" extra room. But it was definitely nice at BRV. Though it's just 1 toilet there. I'm looking forward to the 1-bedroom at VGC next year. I think that's when I'm definitely need to get more points for 1-bedroom each time. Funny how that seems to happen to most of us.

Its like going from a condo to a house

 

[CrystalClear82]

We were making multiple trips a year from Ohio. Some of those trips were park visits, others were trips of more relaxation. --- Truth be told those relaxation trips at Animal Kingdom or Yacht Club were starting to get expensive.. DVC financially made sense for us.

Fast forward we now live in Florida and those trips require us to either board or bring our dogs with us.. This upcoming trip to the Cabins at Fort Wilderness is pricey... so we'll see how long before my husband gets on board to purchasing DVC there..

 

[Lumpy1106]

Family of 5 - 2018, we could not get a room in our go-to (POR) so took a chance on CBR. It was under construction but it wouldn't have mattered - we hated it. It was dated, absolute bus hell, we lasted all of about an hour before DW was on the phone trying to move - and we did; to an AoA family suite. We L-O-V-E-D it! The 2nd bathroom, the separate bedroom, the murphy bed, the 1/2 kitchen, it was so much better than a studio that we have not gone back even outside the world.

Then we stepped foot in DHS on a very hot day, and struck up a conversation with a DVC rep at the kiosk on the way into TSL while we cooled off in the shade. We were leaving the next day so were headed back to AoA for a mid-day break while we packed. He convinced us to get a ride from him and make a stop to tour DVC. The guide was a little shifty - he had penciled out some relative costs on the "back of a napkin", but then refused to let us copy his work. It did get us thinking that it was something that would work for us though since we had outgrown studios. We enjoyed the ice cream and the perks (a couple hundred in gift cards and FP+ for each family member), then went on our way. I spent WAY too much time thinking about it and tweaking a spreadsheet, but got kicked in the butt to make a move when restrictions in resale use were announced. We bought resale at BLT in time to beat the restrictions in 2019. Our first reservation was nearly wiped out by COVID shutdowns in 2020, but honestly we would have cancelled if did not have these reservations so I see that as a plus too. What an amazing trip that was!

It's been great, highly recommend if it works as well for you as it has for us - but do your homework.

 

[Genie+]

We got serious about DVC after we kept going back over and over. At first we weren’t sure if just a phase. After doing a bunch of DVC rentals and realizing WDW had become tradition for our family, it made sense to buy in. Rentals are a decent alternative but owning has given us more control and flexibility, plus access into to full club experience.

The stage of spending more time in the room has hit us as well. The studio is fine when just DH and I, but we’re done with sharing a room with anyone Even if one of our grown kids join us.

Biggest problem is never enough points! For every trip we take using our DVC we end up booking another on cash/rentals. 50pts resale to get our toes wet, then 150pts direct, and now I think we’re ready for some sleep around points to use on the more spontaneous trips and/or booking 1BRs at 7 months. We’re still deciding whether to go lowest cost resale or hold out for another great round of direct incentives.

Add-on-itis is NO JOKE!!! There should be a black box warning on our contracts.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I didn't really get serious until I was on the tour. It was a cold winter day in 2002-there were actually signs beside dead flowers asking us to forgive them "Jack Frost paid us a visit last night", I was staying at All Star Music which I didn't like (but Dixie Landings was closed since tourism had severely dropped after 9/11, and it was a solo trip, so taking the tour was something warm I could do. I was so happy that they took me seriously, even though DH didn't even do the tour with me. When I got home, DH saw the big smile on my face, as well as he found out that Disney had a resort on Hilton Head Island (and as a golfer, he'd always wanted to go to Hilton Head), and we decided then to be serious about joining.

 

[disneylandtour]

We've had many chill-out vacations at DVC, where we might not even step into the parks, instead--get coffee, take a three to four mile walk (especially in winter), sit out by the pool, find a nice place for dinner and then watch fireworks from some place like Tambu while having a drink. The Poly, in particular, is well suited for this type of vacation.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

Note to self - never stay in a 1BR.

 

[Cfabar1]

I do to ask for free stuff

best part of a Disney Cruise! I plan to get back my initial DVC investment through backpacks, baseball caps, and lip balm...

 

[Girlstar30]

best part of a Disney Cruise! I plan to get back my initial DVC investment through backpacks, baseball caps, and lip balm...

And lithographs and coasters!

 

[bakerworld]

Disney Vacation Club attracted us from the time of it's inception but cost-wise it was out of reach. It wasn't until we could see the light of day out of the College bills that we finally 'pulled the trigger'. DH said we waited too long. We bought direct and the monthly payments were very affordable so he was probably correct. LOL. Even at 10% interest, we paid the loan off early (of course, no College bills made that doable). Found out about resale after our 2nd contract but our contracts were such low numbers that it wasn't worth the rigmarole of buying resale. Our largest point contract was that initial one.

 

[Cfabar1]

I'm so glad we found it... Being in a villa instead of a normal hotel room, especially with a family, is a life changing experience....

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

1. We rented points for a stay.
2. I did a whole bunch of math, financial modeling/forecasting, and analysis.
3. We bought both resale and direct.

 

[CallMeAFlower]

I didn't really even know about DVC until after a coworker suggest that we rent DVC points instead of rack-rate. I was enamored with the idea when we came back from that AKL trip, but it didn't financially make sense for us at the time once I actually dug into the price of ownership. As young adults, we had a lot of bills to pay for before funding future vacations- student loans, car loans, paying for the wedding, downpayment for a house...

After a pretty rough few years, we decided to pull the plug and use a chunk of our savings to buy while our daughter is still young. I was worried initially when I found out about DVC that we'd be boxed into having to take a Disney vacation every few years, but now that's a relief because it means that we have to take a vacation!

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

I didn't really even know about DVC until after a coworker suggest that we rent DVC points instead of rack-rate. I was enamored with the idea when we came back from that AKL trip, but it didn't financially make sense for us at the time once I actually dug into the price of ownership. As young adults, we had a lot of bills to pay for before funding future vacations- student loans, car loans, paying for the wedding, downpayment for a house...

After a pretty rough few years, we decided to pull the plug and use a chunk of our savings to buy while our daughter is still young. I was worried initially when I found out about DVC that we'd be boxed into having to take a Disney vacation every few years, but now that's a relief because it means that we have to take a vacation!

I'm in this same boat. I LOVE Disney World, and I don't want to have to convince my wife and family to make a trip happen every time. To be clear, they all love it too, but my wife always wants to feel justified in our spending, and WDW has never really felt that way for her because it's so splurgy. DVC makes it way less so, and makes it a lot easier and natural to make those vacations happen.

 

[Add-On-Itis]

1. We rented points for a stay.
2. I did a whole bunch of math, financial modeling/forecasting, and analysis.
3. We bought both resale and direct.

same.

Problem was rented points for a 1-bedroom stay. Can't go back to studio now.

3. haven't bought direct yet.