How I Told The Kids

[Roveer]

It's off topic, and I'll ask for forgiveness right now, but I had to share in this forum.

I've been posting DVC questions for the past couple of weeks and we are pretty close to buying DVC. We leave for WDW on Saturday and I've already contacted my guide (yes, I've got a referral too).

In all my planning I conciously or subconciously didn't mention it to the kids. That's not normal, usually I make them Disney calendars and they all mark off the days until we leave. This time around I kept it a secret.

Here's the link to the thread I posted over in the family board that links to the video I made and will be showing them tonight. I plan to video tape them watching the video and hope I get a good response.

How I told the kids we are going to Disney

If all goes well, we'll visit BLT, SSR, BCV, BWV and will decide which property we want to purchase. Really looking forward to becoming DVC Member. We no longer fit in standard room (6 total), so DVC is the next logical step. The kids are showing no signs tiring of WDW. Heck neither are my wife and I.

 

[siestakeys04]

Seems very exciting. Dh and I will purchase next year very excited!!!

 

[alamode]

When I told my kids about buying into DVC, my 9 year old son started screaming over and over "Daddy bought part of Disneyworld!!"

And I thought I was excited.

 

[Cajun28]

Roveer, nice job!

When I told my kids about buying into DVC, my 9 year old son started screaming over and over "Daddy bought part of Disneyworld!!"

And I thought I was excited.

That's a cute story.

When we bought our points, my son said "You bought BWV? Why didn't you buy SSR, so I could use it 12 more years after y'all are gone." Of course, he was 22 at the time. They're not nearly as cute at that age...LOL

 

[BBG-BLT]

When I told the kids - my DD (7) cried.

Says it all doesn't it?

 

[5forDiz]

Well hopefully your DW didn't let it slip but somehow I'm thinking that would never happen. You'll no doubt get the reaction you're anticipating.

 

[LoveTheWDWMagic]

Loved your video....you have very adorable kids. Please post video/photos of your kids' reaction. We are driving to Disney from NJ this Saturday. Will see you and your family there.

 

[Bekky2]

Good luck surprising the kids. That's exciting!!

 

[Tinks "SS"]

OHH how neat!! Can't wait to hear how it went! keep us informed!

 

[rentayenta]

We told our kids after we bought and when we did they were so excited. I will never forget, arriving at the Kidani pool and telling them the exciting news!

 

[logan115]

When I hung up the phone with my guide to tell him we werern't going to buy in at BLT our son (5) cried because he thought we lost "our room" at Disney and would never be able to go to WDW again. Two months later when we closed on our resale contract and we told him that we "got our room back" he nearly jumped thru the roof.

One other thing (and apologies if someone else already posted this). If you're buying BLT than buy direct, if you're EVEN THINKING about any other WDW resort you HAVE to consider resale. Other exception may be AKV as with the current incentives the spread between direct and resale isn't as wide.

We could've bought SSR direct (in March) for $106 (and gotten our DPs), but bought resale and paid $68 (with banked points - just like DPs only better because we could use them anywhere at 7 mos). You can buy BCV/BWV direct, but you'll pay something like $106, and you can easily save at least $20/pt going resale.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip.

Chris

In the DVC-Operations section there's an ROFR thread that will give you an idea of what's passing ROFR these days.

 

[pilferk]

Not to hijack:

We surprised our kids back in January of 2008.

We had bought into AKV in 2007, but didn't tell them ANYTHING. Kept everything out of sight and only talked about it when the kids were in bed.

The trip approached, and the kids noticed luggage in the our bed room. We told them we needed the space in the basement storage area to store Christmas stuff. Luckily, they never actually paid any attention to it...because it was obviously filling up.

The day of the trip arrived, the kids went off to school thinking Daddy (that's me!) wasn't feeling well and had to stay home from work. My wife woke me around 10 AM (we were driving, from CT, in a straight shot), we packed the car, and went to pick the kids up from school early. We'd arranged the WHOLE thing with the school without them knowing a thing.

They got in the car, and we put on a DVD we'd made. It showed pictures of our previous trips...and at the end we said "Guess why we just showed you that video". It took them a couple mintues, but they guessed we were going to WDW. I asked "when do you think we're going". "Now??" Was the answer.

When my wife and I answered, I'm surprised they didn't spontaneously combust.

We didn't tell them about DVC until we arrived and checked into AKV (the night AFTER we stayed at the Nick Hotel). They saw the room and knew something was "up". We explained we'd bought DVC, and what that meant. Again...excitement beyond belief.

I think we'll wait awhile to do that again. That was the 2nd trip, in a row, we just sprung it on them the day we leave.

Have a GREAT trip!!! We'll be "hot on your heals" in about a month.