I should start by saying that I never got to go on a vacation as a kid, and I had never been to WDW prior to my honeymoon. It was always a dream of mine as a kid, but because I grew up dirt poor and in a single parent family, I didn't really think it would ever be a reality.
Then, I met my husband.
It was actually his idea to take me to WDW for our honeymoon, so I actually blame all of this on him.
I fell in love with the place from the moment we arrived. Then, it became a dream of mine to be able to take my own kids at least once (yeah, right!). Fast forward 19 years, and we've gone more times than I can count. We've been very blessed. However, we didn't buy in to
DVC until last year.
We had listened to the whole DVC presentation before on previous
DCL cruises, and the rep on one cruise in particular had pretty much asked me to get my husband out of her tiny office. He had tough questions, and he was a hard sale. She wasn't getting anywhere fast with him, so she thanked us for coming and pretty much begged us to forget about DVC.
Our last DCL cruise was different though. I talked my DH in to attending the presentation again because the weather was cold (we were in Alaska), it was a sea day, and what would it hurt, right?
I think he finally got it. He actually agreed that maybe it was time to buy in. So, I stalked EVERY SINGLE PERSON on the ship who had on a white DVC ball cap, and I wanted to know their real thoughts on owning DVC. Surprisingly, my DH and I couldn't find someone who regretted their purchase no matter how long they had owned. We discussed it some more, set up a meeting with our sales rep, and signed on the dotted lines the next day. We weren't very educated though, so I should admit that up front.
After coming home, I learned about resale. I still don't know if I would have done it differently had I been more informed. We actually bought in thinking we could use our points to cruise, visit other places, etc., and because I was pretty uneducated, I've now learned that it may not be as cost effective and easy as they made it sound onboard the ship. No matter what, I made a decision, and so far I'm happy with it. We have another DCL booked for next year, and I could have used some points for it or I could have rented points to help pay for the cruise, but I'm kind of a point snob. I want all of my points for myself--they are my guarantee that we're going somewhere, so I'm not letting them go unless I'm using them.
It's kind of like my Disney Visa. It's a guarantee that I'm going back--afterall, I have to use my rewards points, right?
I had a relative leave me with money after his death. He was very generous and was always calling me to find out about our next big vacation. I was able to use his money to pay off all of our debt and buy in to DVC. I did it so I could pay it forward with friends and family. We are taking my mother and all of my sisters and their families in July, and we can't wait. I took all of them on a DCL cruise last year before I owned DVC, and my sisters just cried. For a couple of them, they would have never been able to enjoy such a thing with their children had my husband and I not taken them. I hope to some day enjoy WDW and other DVC locations with my kids and their families as well. I look forward to enjoying many more wonderful years of vacationing with the people I love.
Susan
Now that we are all grown, we're taking full advantage of traveling together as a family and making up for all of the years when it wasn't possible. I wouldn't trade our trips for anything! 
me 
also a big part of way we think dvc is better for us as we have older kids in high school and not a fan of always going at free dinning time so now we can go any time 
