If you've been in DVC for years...

[dianeschlicht]

We have been members since '97. Our "kids" were already adults, but our youngest was early 20's and he is our biggest Disney fan. Our "kids are now 34 and 40 and yes, they still go with us occationally. Of course, the difference, is that now they have to pay their own travel expenses....or they would be there as often as we are.

 

[BarrerasFamily]

My wife and I "grew up Disneyland" and we still thoroughly enjoy both all the parks. My 7 year old has been going to both coasts since... well very young and she still loves it.

 

[jodifla]

I grew up about 90 minutes to WDW. I've never counted how many times I've been, but it must be over 100 by now, since I've gone every year multiple times and the park has been open 37 years.


No, I don't get tired of it. I like just going and soaking up the atmosphere.


And now that we own DVC, we like just handing out at the different resorts. But since we have a DS, now 7, who is just now really getting into the rides, and guess I'll be doing the ride thing for some time to come.

 

[edk35]

DD17 is done. She has no desire to go back after 20 plus trips. DS18 likes it a bit more, but is off to college so will be too busy for a while to join us.

That said, DW and I are looking forward to future trips without them. I know we will miss them, but we have lots of great memories of them growing up at WDW. I think we will probably start doing a few exchanges as well.

Our ds15 almost 16 says the same thing. Matter of fact he was almost done after Nov. 08's trip and was REALLY DONE after Jan. 09's trip but we managed to spark the interest again for our July trip. However once again.....a few time on this trip....he was once again DONE. I think we have burned him out. Our dd 18 still enjoys it a lot but she even complained a bit in Nov. and Jan. Mostly because of missing a couple of days of school in Nov. and one in Jan. Our 10 year old ds still loves everything about WDW. On this past trip......our 15 year old spent more time at the water parks, resort gym, pool. He skipped some TS meals too. I think if we brought a friend of his...he would like going much better. I think this was his 15th trip and our dd's 17th...and 8 of those trips were between Jan. 07 and July 09. SO A LOT OF DISNEY.

We are going to start venturing out more...trying HHI, Vero and even stepping outside of Disney and trying RCI.. I know we will continue to go to WDW but we are planning on taking a year off. My next plan is to take our youngest son to the MVSHP in Oct. 2010 before he gets any older. That might be a just us or maybe dh will tag along too.

I think as kids get older....their desires change...but like some people posted......there are lots of things to do at WDW that don't even involve the 4 parks. My teen boy loves to take the searaycers out too. We enjoy the resort pools and having non park days. As your kids grow and change....so will their vacation styles.

 

[CindeBella]

We've been coming to Disney for years. Our kids ages are 12 (almost), 9 and 6. They still love coming. My daughter, 6, isn't a fan of the princesses any longer but still loves Disney. I think she will come back to the princesses later as now she feels she is "too big" for them.
We don't spend as much time at the Magic Kingdom. Instead we go to Epcot, MGM and Animal Kingdom. My husband and I love coming to the Food & Wine Festival in the fall, just the two of us, for a few days.

There is so much to do and so much for everyone no matter the age ~ boat rentals, parasailing, golf, the activities at DD and water parks included. My kids love the parties ~ halloween and Christmas.

We just purchased a Boardwalk DVC today. I wouldn't have done it if I felt my kids wouldn't be interested.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

We bought DVC in 2000. We've probably done 30+ trips and we have no end in sight yet. We did have one trip some years ago where we tried to do too much, and tried to spend every available day of our vacation at Disney. Since I was trying to "save on points" we resort hopped tooo much - stayed at separate resorts for the first, middle, and last weekends. Too much moving ! Definitely not a relaxing trip.
We find that we enjoy each trip more and more. Like others have said you find new experiences to try, new places to eat, and a few of the old favorites go by the wayside. You start looking forward to the hew rides and attractions but still honor your old favorites.
Our attraction to Disney and DVC has not waned due to time but has actually increased.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We still love our DVC. We just came back in April from another fantastic family vacation. Our whole family enjoyed 7 days at OKW. We had our daughters 30 & 24 and there husbands plus our 16 year old daughter. And the highlight of our trip our 2 year old grandsons first WDW trip. So we still love our DVC.

 

[Coach81]

Been members for just a few years.. as of this Christmas we will have visited the World 3 times!!!! We went for our annual February Mardi Gras trip.. went back for our first ever Summer trip in May/June.. and in a few months we will return for our first Christmas Trip to Disney!!!

We can easily see ourselves enjoying at least one trip every year to Disney for the distant future. We love it.. and are very happy with our DVC!!!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[tmgandolph]

We have been members since July 1998. I say it all the time, one of the best decisions I have made in my life other than marrying my lovely DH...

Our DD is now 22 and has been receiving the DVC benefits since she was 11. Maybe we are a little different than some on the boards. We don't just do WDW with our points. I know, hold the eggs you want to throw at me...but we do HHI, VB, DCL (10 cruises in 11 years, not bad huh!) and even exchanged out when it was II to Las Vegas, Bay Habor Michigan, New York and Hawaii. On top of the variety of locations and ways we have spent our points we have done WDW more times than I need to count. We love it there and find ourselves taking a relaxing vacation at the World and most folks don't say that after a trip to WDW. We don't do comando style park days anymore and many times don't go to a park at all. I know, crazy by most standards but not according to what seems to be the DVC standard.

I don't think your children will get tired of anything you do as long as you provide variety and age 'appropriateness'(is that a word??) as they grow and change.

I have had more wonderful vacations with my daughter and husband over the past 11 years and honestly look forward to as many more as I can take...did I ever say I love my DVC??

This is why I bought DVC. While I agree that it might not be the best use of the points to take cruises and trips using RCI, that is what we want to do. Our newborn twins will hopefully grow up to catch the Disney and the cruise bug! Love the just about a cruise a year part! :
Thanks for your post. We hope to follow in your foot steps and do various things, Europe, cruises, Mediterranean cruise would be spectacular...SeaWorld's Discovery cove looks great!

 

[dianeschlicht]

What gets old is watching Disney make profit decisions that affects the magic that Walt and Company created so many years ago.

The things that made WDW unique are slowly disappearing and generic everything is their new motto. Disney used to focus on the Guest experience, now they focus on increasing attendance and charging extra.

Exactly, and that's why we aren't going as often or for as long as we once did. There's no longer a unique experience or the fantastic food and service we once thought was so "Disney".

 

[vakamalua]

We have been DVC members since 1995 when OKW WAS the DVC. Our son was five then and is now 19 years old and about to enter his sophomore year in college. We have made incredible memories by using DVC for MANY trips to the "world" (as my son still calls it) and in many other ways and places--Vero Beach, Hilton Head, WDW hotels, Disneyland California, Tokyo Disney, DCL cruises, and Concierge Collection.

Over the years, we have sometimes taken family or one of my son's friends (most recently GIRL-friend ), but usually Disney trips are for Ohana (family). I'm happy to say that my son still thinks of WDW as a second home and never seems to tire of going back. We have lots of quirky "traditions"--for example, lunch at Olivia's is always our first stop, going to MK only at night, getting pictures with characters we haven't seen before, etc.

I can't say how your children will feel in 10 or 15 years, but we've found that the DVC experience isn't about how many points we used, how much we got to do or whether the food was great; it's been about spending time together, laughing together and having adventures (some familiar, some exotic--Tokyo Disney!) as a family. We hope to keep having DVC adventures as a family for a long time; in fact, we're looking at maybe using DVC points for a ABD trip to China next year.

And, with my son in college, my husband and I now also have a chance to slip away for a few DVC memories all on our own.