How has DVC changed the way you Disney?

[MattKreps]

Wife and I are working on getting our first DVC purchase, and received excellent advice from members here that helped us make a better choice. Thank you!

We've been discussing a number of ways that this may change the way we Disney. I wanted to ask the experienced folks - and new DVC members - how ownership changed / is changing the way you plan your Disney trips.

Previously, we planned 5-day runs to the parks, heavy on park days. We think DVC will make us more inclined to use the actual resort and its programs, which we have enjoyed greatly as happenstance on prior trips (ie AK drumming and children activities, which were one of my favorite parts of that trip!). We're also thinking we may do some parent-only shorter trips, and maybe even try a Run Disney event. Maybe do other Orlando area attractions on longer trips?

Would love to hear how you guys use DVC to plan more varied and enjoyable trips! Thanks.

 

[disneynutz]

Disney is like most things in life, the more you do something, the less the appeal after awhile. Fighting crowds in the parks gets old and you spend more resort time. Initially you will increase the number of Disney vacations and you may vacation longer. After a few years you might cut back a bit and find other vacation destinations in addition to Disney.

Bill

 

[Gizmo74]

We just bought at Poly this past March. We have our first DVC trip this July staying at the Poly. Since we just went in March and we are members, we decided to not do heavy on parks this trip. Granted, it is July 4th week so it will be super busy and hot. But, we want this trip to be more relaxed. We might do the parks at night.

 

[bwvBound]

Fun question.

Context: We've owned DVC since 2004 (13+ years) and have owned other timeshare for even longer. No children -- but often travel with family and friends, children included. We are 'locals' to Disneyland and have visited WDW roughly once-each-year over the past 20+ years for business conventions at the Swan/Dolphin. Our typical "how do we do Disney" does NOT require a park visit. I've long been OK w/ just visiting the hotels/resorts, Downtown Disney, etc for my "fix."

How has DVC changed the way we do Disney?

• Disneyland Resort: DVC has not changed our Disneyland habits except to add attending the rare Member event. We usually use SoCal passes for park admission -- and that is fairly infrequent these days.
• WDW: Thanks to DVC, we've gone to the parks far more than we could have possibly expected. Before DVC, we rarely visited the parks except if included/discounted with the conference package. DVC's discounted AP pricing won us over and, for at least a few years, we've purchased and enjoyed an Annual Pass. Thus, DVC changed us: we visit WDW theme parks!
• Aulani: Like it! We visit HI every few years and now stay longer to play. DVC brought "Disney" to how we "do Oahu."
• Vero: Like it! I now have a place to soak in the Atlantic. I'm good with that. Ditto above: DVC brought "Disney" to how we to "an Atlantic beach trip."

When staying at a DVC: We enjoy the resort activities, the Community Center, movie rentals, etc. We enjoy visiting just to see holiday decorations, eat at a favorite restaurant, etc.

 

[ELMC]

Very soon you will find yourself switching from buying Park Hoppers to buying Annual Passes. And since the room is "paid for" already with DVC, and you don't have to buy tickets, you might as well go down for that extra trip. Or two. If you buy DVC you will almost definitely transform Disney from a once a year trip to several times per year. Which isn't the worst thing in the world, but you should be expecting it.

 

[com_op_2000]

DVC member since '93.
DW and I went to WDW on dates before marriage.
Being locals we take a lot of short trips, long weekends, and getaways using DVC as the home base while attending whatever is going on in the WDW area including other parks.
We have always taken couple getaways and our DD was perfectly accepting of them, knowing that we need our time away.
When we were dating we would go, go, go at the parks and now we spend most days away from the parks. Some of our favorite getaway/last minute trips are the most remembered:
DW and I several times have been at DS(DTD) for the day and decided we wanted to stay the night. Called the resorts directly (back before MS was open on Sundays) or MS and checked in within 15 minutes.

Due to an unexpected work schedule change, wound up with a three day weekend, this coming weekend:
DW and I woke-up Friday morning at 5am, while still in bed talking about our anniversary, which is this weekend, and we decided we wanted to go to MK today, instead of doing yard work (which we had planned on). We got our to-go-bag and cooler in the car, stopped by the bank on the way through Orlando, and headed for MK. Called MS at 9 and booked a room at BLT for the night. Checked into the resort at @11 and the room was ready. Friday night we went to TOTWL to see the fireworks.

 

[DduzDis]

DVC member since '93.
DW and I went to WDW on dates before marriage.
Being locals we take a lot of short trips, long weekends, and getaways using DVC as the home base while attending whatever is going on in the WDW area including other parks.
We have always taken couple getaways and our DD was perfectly accepting of them, knowing that we need our time away.
When we were dating we would go, go, go at the parks and now we spend most days away from the parks. Some of our favorite getaway/last minute trips are the most remembered:
DW and I several times have been at DS(DTD) for the day and decided we wanted to stay the night. Called the resorts directly (back before MS was open on Sundays) or MS and checked in within 15 minutes.

Due to an unexpected work schedule change, wound up with a three day weekend, this coming weekend:
DW and I woke-up Friday morning at 5am, while still in bed talking about our anniversary, which is this weekend, and we decided we wanted to go to MK today, instead of doing yard work (which we had planned on). We got our to-go-bag and cooler in the car, stopped by the bank on the way through Orlando, and headed for MK. Called MS at 9 and booked a room at BLT for the night. Checked into the resort at @11 and the room was ready. Friday night we went to TOTWL to see the fireworks.

You had me at MK instead of yard work. Lol! Now if only I could use points for a private jet...

 

[rg35]

We bought in 2012, and our first points trip was in 2013 (however we visited MK in 2012 as part of a Disney Cruise stop at Port Canaveral). So this year is going to be our 6th trip in a row. We have 3 kids. Owning DVC has enabled us to take it easy. We usually do 5 days in parks, sometimes 6, but tour at a leisurely pace knowing that we don't have the pressure to see everything because we might not be back for a while. We still see a lot because we are at the parks for rope drop, but we take it easy with sit down meals for lunch and dinner; if the kids are tired at night we leave the parks before the fireworks, etc. I don't buy park hopper passes anymore.

 

[aoconnor]

I suspect a common theme is shorter park visits. Might just pop into a park for a meal and ride two or three things, then head home. This is either do to A) knowing you will be back year after year or B) DVC members tend to get APs so you don't feel as if you're "wasting" a day of admission by just going for a couple hours.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

We have slowed waaaaaay down. We were total commandos before DVC. For ten years prior to DVC we went every year and every trip we felt like we needed to see it all because we never knew when we'd be back.

Now with DVC it's so much more relaxing. We come back from our DISney vacations refreshed rather than exhausted. We have taken time to enjoy the smaller things the parks have to offer. For example our son spent over an hour coloring at Animal Kingdom one year and it didn't bother us at all because we knew we'd be back.

The past few trips we have spent almost exclusively hunting Pokémon. I took my son for a quick spring break long weekend and we rode four rides the whole trip and instead focused on Pokémon hunting and gym fighting. People thought we were nuts. I just consider Disney my playground now. We go and play. Whatever that may be that trip. It's usually not rides rides rides anymore, but there is so much other stuff to do we have yet to get bored.

 

[bigtony777]

We went more often as soon as we bought. A few years ago we changed to going on an every other year annual pass buy system. During that year we will usually fit in 3 trips. It will depend on how comfortable you are spending money on the passes as to how often you will go.

As several others have stated, we usually go for shorter times periods in the parks. We will then head back to the resort to have some pool time. We love spending the afternoon at the pool and grilling out for lunch. You will also likely try different things like resort hopping or other activities like mini golf etc as your interest in spending the entire day in the park lessens.

 

[hamilkm]

We have been members for a year and have been buying AP for 3 years. We had our first DVC trip on points back in March. We used to be park commandos. On my first adult trip back in 2013 we did rope drop to close at every park. It was exhausting! Now we either head to a park in the morning, ride a few rides and head back to the resort or we sleep in, hang by the pool and spend the evening in a park. If we miss a nighttime show or a certain ride it's okay because we will be back. Like others said we now come home from Disney relaxed and refreshed. It's truly a vacation now! We are heading down next in September, and I have more resort time than park time planned for us. It's wonderful!

 

[bwang123]

We have owned since 2012 and in that time were doing 2 trips a year, 3 at one point and even had an AP. We took a trip to Disneyland when we normally would not have as well. In the past two years, we have already slowed down and have rented our points as we were taking other trips close to our normal Disney travel times. I can still see us taking at least one trip a year with possibly skipping a year occasionally. DVC has also changed the way we Disney as now we will bring along friends and family. One year, we had another family come with us and we got the room and they paid for a babysitter to travel with us. Another time, we took care of some family members room just because we liked hanging out with them. Now, we are using our points for my mother and her boyfriend to come with us. We are generous people, but I doubt we would ever pay direct cash for our families rooms.

 

[bwvBound]

DVC has also changed the way we Disney as now we will bring along friends and family. ... We are generous people, but I doubt we would ever pay direct cash for our families rooms.

Yes! Timeshare, in general, did this for us. We are very willing hosts for various family gatherings as well as traveling with friends. Of course, over time, some of those friends and family caught the bug, bought their own timeshare interests, and now invite us along! Yippie!

 

[AceVac]

My family became DVC Members in 92. My wife and I recently got an additional at the Poly in 2015. I guess nothing has changed since 92 other than new faces we bring along on the trips and a variety of DVC resorts. We do 2-3 trips to WDW a year but the great part about DVC is we don't have to feel pressed to see or do it all. We enjoy just hanging and dining at the resorts in itself.