Just back from first visit home...long.

[DukeStreetKing]

Quoting DisneyEnthusiast:

[I forgot about the fiery redhead personality comment I made a while back... LOL!!! You should see some of the photos taken of him on the trip.... his red REALLY came out in the pictures... maybe from his personality shining thru. He hated being dragged around the parks. We tried to make him go from point A to point B too many times to see "Rolie Polie" or "Buzzy".... and being 2, he was happy to just swim in the pool or play w/ the fun mirrors on the BW, or roll around in the grass near France at EPCOT. My DH took him on the speed boats at the Contemporary and said Tristan barely noticed he was in the boat.... but loved playing w/ the line used to tie up the boat at the docks. So we finally got smart about it and realized we didn't need to get him to and plop him on all the rides. It was more enjoyable just watching him wrestling on the lawn w/ his Daddy. I would sit on the bench w/ baby girl, and the boys would play. So by the end of the trip, the tantrums were gone and he was as good as gold. We would take him home for a nap and go back out to dinner and he did great. If anyone heard screams during the beginning of our trip though, I am sure that was us. Sorry to all you out there who were bothered. He wanted to go left, we right.... it was a disaster. But that is what was so great about DVC..... We knew we'd be back soon, so why push it and see everything?! There was no need.]

What did I just read? A parent actually taking the needs of their children into consideration during a vacation to WDW? Holy cow!

Thanks for the great trip report. I made me even more anxious to get back to the World. It was nice to read about the great time you had and about how it made you a better parents. Your kids will appreciate Disney so much more if you can do it at their pace.

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Forever a Princess: I do believe you will be very happy w/ a 1 bedroom. I remember as a girl reading late into the night w/ a sleeping family... I had to sit in the tub in the bathroom to keep from irritating the parents. So if your DH takes naps, a 1 br will work out great for you 2. And you'll get that great jacuzzi tub which is wonderful after a long day in the parks. And we used the refrigerator for storing milk, cheese, and wine coolers and the microwave for heating bottles and reheating past dinners from the Brown Derby or Boardwalk for lunch the next day. Never got to do that before. And think of coming back from the parks and having a nice glass of wine out on the balcony. Not a bad idea. And the washer and dryer really worked for us. Due to all of the baby paraphenalia (gosh they need a lot) and the need to bring layers for all different types of weather, my DH and I only packed 3 T's each, 2 pants, 2 shorts, 1 sweatshirt, etc. And if it was sunny more than 3 days (which it was) we would wash and wear again. That worked out GREAT!

The only thing I would change in a 1 br would be to put a door betw. the bedroom and the bathroom w/ the jacuzzi (yes, there are 2..... 1 w/ the jacuzzi and sink w/ hairdryer and closet, and another w/ the shower and another sink). I didn't bring a hairdryer because the villas have one. But I couldn't dry my hair when DS was napping because it was the adjoining room w/ no door. So I had to wait til he woke up before I dried my hair or I just woke him. So bring your own Hairdryer if you think you might want to get ready while DH is asleep, and you can plug it into the bathroom w/ the shower. The provided hairdryer is attached to the wall and must be used in the jacuzzi area. We made do, but I will prob. bring my own next time.

There was the one Boardwalk In-Room Dining Menu on the coffee table w/ the lamp. Inside that were selections from each of the Boardwalk restaurants, as well as the generic room service selections, and alcohol selections from the bar. You ordered off of that one menu and your order could include selections from several restaurants. And then 1 CM brought up your entire order. It was REALLY cool! We watched the Superbowl and ordered in and had a great time just "hanging out" at the villa. There is another generic menu which you can hang on your door for breakfast the next morning w/ the usual eggs, pancakes, juice, etc.

And as far as we handled the 2 yr old. Thank you for the nice comment, but we really felt we were failing him at the time. They don't come w/ instruction booklets and you can read and watch shows on parenting and listen to advice til you're blue in the face, and then you are in the thick of it and forget evertything you learned. It's like getting mugged..... some people freeze, some fight, some cry, some run.... you never know what you are going to do until you go thru it. My DH and I agree w/ our discipline when we discuss it calmly and quietly after the kids go to bed. But then when you are standing w/ a perfect child who all of a sudden starts to scream out of no where, and people start to gather to see what's going on, you freeze and forget everything and only seem to notice those around you turning their heads and getting irritated. It's hard to be objective and clear then. In a restaurant you can scoop him up and leave w/ him, but not on a plane. And on the boardwalk or in the park, you are leaving w/ him, but have to walk by all the guests to get back to your villa... and they are all looking your way. You just wish you can beam yourself back to your room. Once we relaxed and stopped going commando though, things really turned around. Thanks for your nice comment though. At least someone knows we were trying to keep him under control.

And yes... more points are definitely in your future. We could only do 6 nights w/ 196 pts this past vacation and paid for an addt'l 2 nights w/ the DVC discount. Next year since SSR is open we'll be able to use 300 pts which is more like what we need for our size family. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you'll be able to add-on sometime.

Thanks so much for getting in touch. I loved reading your post as you were thinking about how a 1 br will suit your needs best. You really put some thought into it and so I am sure you are making the right decision for you. I loved chatting w/ you on the boards. Take care and good luck w/ all of your decisions. And I am a LIBRA too! I totally understand you!!!!

DukeStreetKing: Thanks for being so nice to me. We are better parents for it. Just wish I didn't have to have everyone else suffer at WDW during our stay too. We are the type of parents who like to discipline in private and have perfectly well behaved children when out in public. We love the looks on peoples faces when we are dining at a nice restaurant w/ our kids and they are sooo good. The other guests will approach us and say, "What nice children you have and so we just had to meet them." Of course if they misbehaved, we'd get them outta there fast, but usually don't have to do so. We know, deep down, the other diners are just sooo happy that our kids were quiet and didn't ruin their dinner and we are so proud. Then we went to WDW. Aghhh! He was still great in the restaurants due to the dinner shows, but dragging him kicking and screaming thru the parks to get him home sure did turn some heads. I just kept thinking, "I can't go any faster!" And I know the other parents must be thinking, "Hope my children don't follow suit and start acting up too now that they've seen that bratty child!"

So against all of my preconceived notions, we did what he wanted and had a marvelous time. Never wanted a 2 yr old to run the household, but I guess on vacation, parents have to give in a little in order to have a nice vacation. And the funny thing is.... once we did it "his" way, we found out that he knew what we needed more than we did. We certainly didn't need to see the rides again. But we did need to sit by the pool and relax and enjoy ourselves. Don't all parents need this? Here we were willing to run ourselves ragged for him when all we needed to do to make him happy was relax and get some vitamin D. Go figure. Sometimes 2 yr olds can be very intuitive and smart! They just have trouble communicating their suggestions to you...... so all he could do was throw a tantrum until we got it. DUHHH! Next time I'll learn to listen better. So we still won't let him run the entire show around here, but we will start to listen to and take his "suggestions" a little more often.

It was sweet of you to write me DukeStreetKing! I hope we stay in touch in the future and get to know each other better. Thanks for reaching out to me!

 

[gopherit]

Originally posted by Disney Enthusiast

And I am a LIBRA too!

Count me in, too! Balancing scales people, unite!


When our son was 2, he had real control issues (he's seven now and, oh wait... come to think of it, he STILL has those issues! ) Anyhoooo, I had read in one of those countless parenting books that we should let him FEEL as if he was making the choices by giving him 2 simple options and letting him pick. THe key is to clearly state the 2 choices, then repeat again in brief as needed until he "sees" the ball is in his court and he gets to choose his destiny. It sounds a bit like a broken record (Ok, Ryan... you can either watch TV and then go straight to bed, or go to bed now and get a story... TV then bed, or a story, then bed... TV then bed, or story, then bed... TV then bed, or story, then bed... bwaaak, Mommy wanna cracker....") But it was amazing -- you could actually see a near-tantrum suddenly shift gears as he realized, Hey, everyone is waiting for ME to make the decison... I HAVE THE POWER! On about the 3rd repetition of his choices, his scowl would give way to this enlightened half-grin and he would actually let out a giggle sometimes, like he had just discovered a delicious secret! Too cute.

So there we stood in WDW and ds decides to get rebellious...borderline snit-fit and now refuses to budge. I call upon my "infinite parenting training" (translation -- book-reading control freak) and calmy repeated to our son, "Ryan, you can either walk beside us, or you may ride in the stroller... Walk with us, or ride sitting down in the stroller... Walk, or ride... Walk or ride..." Long pause. So I get down at the 2-foot level.

"Ryan, walk, or ride. Walk (as I wave one hand at the pavement)... Or Ride (motioning to his MK rented chariot). So... what do you want? Walk... or Ride?"

"Ummmmmm... says Ryan, "I tinkkkkkk..."

"Yes?" I respond, thinking CUT TO THE CHASE, kiddo!

"Ummmm, I tink I wannnnnnnt......" says Ryan, finger aside his cheek....

"Yesssssssss?!?!"

"I tink I wannnnt.......

......a meatstick."

In the relative scheme of things, a Slim Jim seemed like a small price to pay for (WD)World Peace. So with "meatstick" in hand, he climbed in the stroller on his own accord and we proceeded.

As you said, sometimes, ya gotta let them make their OWN choices... not just the limited ones we parents want to impose! Their idea might actually be really simple... (and occasionally tasty too!)

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

LOL!

You are such a hoot! I can't even respond to that last post you made because I will not be able to control my laughter. You must start writing some of these episodes down on paper because we can all relate to what you are describing, only you are so eloquent about it. Have you ever read the book, "Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy"? That was such a funny book and had chapter titles like, "My wife has been abducted by an alien" and other such snappy titles. I get the same sort of feeling when I read your excerpts. You should write a Girlfriends' Guide to Parenting. I am sure we could all learn a lot from your insight, and get a lot of laughs out of it too!!!

I'm going to be looking for your posts now no matter what thread they are on, just to get some more of those fabulous stories!

 

[pklein09]

Great report!!! We're going for the first time to BWV in December - we own there and VWL. I can't wait to see the resort - I keep hearing so many good things!!!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

pklein09: Thanks for saying so! I hope you have a wonderful first trip to BWV and will be looking forward to your posts! So glad to meet ya!

 

[Degli]

Hello Disney Enthusiast,
I think I remember one of your first threads where you told us about getting your husband to agree on DVC. Coming from a husband with a family owned business and one "real" week off a year, it's difficult to get him to consider buying in. Your thread sounded like us. Once I get him there he always enjoys it. Well, with one or two or three calls in to work during our stay. I remember our last trip where his Nextel was chirping while we were waiting to get on a ride at MK. Aaaah! Our children are still young and I want to travel to Disney as often as I can before they grow up. I don't know, maybe I'm spoiled, but that's how I see life. What can I do to persuade him? Thanks!

 

[Terry S]

I have been ill and unable to read the DIS for a few days and missed this post. I really enjoyed reading your trip report. It acutally brought me to tears. I remember reading your posts before hand and am glad you had a great trip.

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Degli: It was so nice of you to check back w/ me. I was the one who said it was super difficult getting my husband to go on vacation! We were looking at 1 wk every 2 yrs (I am not kidding) and finally worked him up to 10 days every 2 yrs. This year, because I had a baby, he was going to wait til next year which would've been 3 yrs, so you can imagine how much I wanted to take this trip 2 wks ago. We bought an add-on and had points to use right away and therefore we went on vacation. My DH's cell goes off all the time too. He was filming my son's first ride on a Merry-go-Round and his phone rang and he put the camera down and answered his phone as we went round and round. He never did get the shot. I have to try very hard to not get upset w/ him. I mean I get so much out of the family business and I do count my blessings. I am a stay at home mom doing the business acctg and payroll from the home den (I worked business office until my son started walking and picking up phones.... now w/ 2 kids, 1 mobile, it's impossible to go into the office), I do not have to put my kids in daycare, I have a wonderful home, and I get to go to WDW every once in a while. I really can't complain. And yet when that phone rings, I still must take a deep breath and hold back my anger.

But anyway.... back to the point. I used the financial aspect on him... showing that we'd break even in 4 to 5 yrs. I printed up the free quotes on the Disney website for just a villa (no tickets), then compared that w/ the minimum 150 pts cost and proved that we were getting a savings by going w/ DVC. I sent the reports w/ him on a slow day at work and said, "If you are looking for something to read while backing up the computers, read this." And he did. I also worked on him regarding the family issues. I remember standing by our marina gate waiting for him to arrive so I could open the private gate for him and he could go on a weekend trip w/ us... he was 4 hrs late because of work. Or when I made him a dinner at college and had to reheat it 4 times for 2 hours because he was late from work. I explained that although I have been very understanding and forgiving in the past, I will not be now that we have children. We waited 10 yrs of marriage (15 altogether) to have kids and we made sure that this was a "good" time to do so. We had enough $ in the bank, I could stay home to raise them, and we would still be comfortable and make ends meet. So I showed him that now is the time to back away a bit from the business, just a little bit, to enjoy his children. He is actually not a workaholic, he just wants to make sure his bills are paid and that he is providing for his family the best he can. He doesn't want to leave us stranded w/ debt up to our ears. So he is working w/ a good heart and I can't fault him for that. I just got to him by explaining how his son especially (Caroline is too young at this point) adores him and would much rather have a Daddy at home to wrestle and play with than money in the bank. Yes, we need money to pay the bills, but there is balance one must strive to acheive. With DVC, we are getting that balance because we are guaranteed that 1 to 2 wks a year are spent as quality time w/ the family. He still can't come home by 5 every night but tries desperately to get home before bedtime to tuck Tristan in bed and kiss him goodnight. And then he is all ours on those vacations. It's a start, much better than it was. Tristan is not a baby anymore and we had to do something. My DH used to say, "He's a baby and has no idea I'm not home." But now Tristan asks for his Daddy and misses him dearly. I told my DH that he needs to enjoy his kids because when they get older and want to spend time w/ friends and not us, it'll be too late and he'll be so sorry he missed it. And that just clicked for him. We knew that if we could only get away for 1 time a year, WDW offers the best possible scenario for us. It has boating, swimming, parks, nice dining, friendly employees, etc. And it's kid friendly. With young children, that is a must have. If he wants to work all the time once the children are grown, then so be it, but now I insisted he slow down. Life is too short and we have no idea if any of us will be around next year. All of us HAVE to enjoy the fruits of our labor and our families in the present. None of us know how much time we have to do so.

I hope you are able to get your DH to join DVC. It really is a great deal! In a previous post I mentioned how my DH only called back a few times the entire 8 days and that is because we were having such terrible ice storms back home and his construction co. takes care of snow and ice removal in the winter time and he was making sure the people in charge were taking care of the customers and things were running smoothly. When he hung up the phone, he was all ours again. And he really was thrilled w/ his/our decision. He mentioned several times that this was the way to visit WDW and that he was so glad we had the means to buy DVC and get this ball rolling while the kids and we are still young. We'll be in our mid 80's when our membership runs out. And it quiets me from having to push all the time since I already have the next trip booked. I can relax and just look forward to the next time. This was a wonderful gift to his family. And it's only because he has worked so hard that he was able to give this to us. So I thank his business every day for being so good to us.

I would let your DH know that you know how hard he must work to provide for the family and that you appreciate that. I would also show him that he must take some time off to enjoy his family and his life. When he is 70 yrs old, w/ lots to show for his hard work, he will be remembering the times he missed w/ his kids and wife because he was on the job. And he'll wish he could go back to those times, when the kids still wanted held and cuddled. Neither the kids, nor you, are getting any younger. We only have so much time on this Earth..... why not enjoy some of it while we're here?

Keep trying Degli. I hope you are successful no matter how you approach the issue. And I thank you again for getting in touch and reminding me of our previous chat. I so hope I get to know you better and witness the day you become a member yourself. I'd love to send you your very own "Welcome Home"!

Terry S: It was so great hearing from you. I am soooo sorry you've been ill and hope you are on the upswing. I am hoping we brought you to tears via laughter and not via our lengths of posts or anything. Thanks for taking the time to check out my trip report and the marvelous responses and experiences the subsequent posters added to it later. Most of them made me feel really great that others had good experiences as well, and some of them brought me to tears as well w/ the funny situations others have gone thru. It makes me feel as though I am not the only struggling mother out there. I guess it is a small world afterall!!! I hope you drop by when you see me posting in the future and I will try to do the same when I see your posts. I always love hearing from you.

I hope you feel better very soon!

 

[DeDixie]

You wrote many of our feelings about BWV so eloquently. BWV also fits your needs as your children grow, ours are now 10 and 13 and we love the BWV more and more.

We love the flexibility of DVC, in Oct just my DD (13) and I went for 4N staying in a studio. This was her 13th birthday present. We had annual passes, so it was a very reasonably priced trip. We would have never done that without DVC. What a great time we had!!

DeDixie

 

[Degli]

I quess I do sound like a complainer sometimes. I am lucky to be able to stay home with my 2 children also. They are a bit older than yours and have been to Disney 2 times in the past 3 years. We own a second home at the beach and with my DH's 1 week off a year this is where he feels we should always spend it. I think that he works too hard for this to be our only vacation. The kids will be grown and won't want to spend there vacation at Disney with there parents then. How uncool is that. So i'll be pushing for the DVC until he divorces me. Hope he sees the light because I'm not giving in on this one. Thanks for responding! I can't wait for my own "welcome home"

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

DeDixie: Thanks so much for sharing your experience w/ DVC. I too think that we will be more spontaneous now that we are members. In fact, the last trip was only planned a month in advance. And we also feel the DVC will grow as our family grows. Then we'll be doing Disney Quest more or the roller coasters more. And when the kids leave home..... now that is when the real fun starts!!! Please keep in touch.

Degli: I certainly did not mean to imply that you were complaining. I thought the total opposite and was just saying what I am thinking about all the time when I get frustrated w/ my dear hubby. I can always calm myself by remembering how good I have it. So keep working on him. He'll come around eventually, or will get so tired and just give in to you. Heck, he's smart and loving or you wouldn't have married him, so there's hope there. And he'll see the light when the time is right for your family. You can just help nudge him a bit. Remember the saying from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"....... "The man may be the head of the household, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head any which way she wants!" The wife can be very persuasive! So keep trying and I am positive I'll be wishing you a "Welcome Home" in the future. Keep in touch to let us all know how the debate is coming along.

PS My DH has to play Devil's Advocate all the time or we'll just buy buy buy. So he made me prove that DVC was a winning choice to him. So go ahead and prove it to your DH. It's really not that hard!!! LOL! Good Luck!

 

[OneMoreTry]

We will be staying at BWV for the first time in May with our 5 kids. I'm looking forward to being close to the bakery and alll the restaurants and the flower and garden show and Star Wars festival and Mission Space and I could go on.

Thanks for the report. For a moment I was there with you and I know our trip will be every bit as great! It always is. (DVC is the only way our family can do WDW and stay together.)

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

OneMoreTry: WOW!!! 5 kids! I was a teacher in my past life and always managed a classroom like clockwork. Then I had 2 kids myself and found out how tough it is to be a mom. It is a 100 x harder than being a teacher and goes 24/7. My heart goes out to you.

I hope you have a marvelous time in WDW in May! You do have so many choices regarding restaurants and such, but choosing is so much fun. Please let us all know how your trip went.

Thanks for posting me and sharing your thoughts. I'm so glad you felt you could relate to some of the stories we told in this thread. I hope you keep in touch and we get to chat again soon.

 

[Degli]

Yes May is great at WDW. Perfect weather and crowds were low. We went last May and got to see the Star Wars weekends. That was fun. My DS absolutely loves Star Wars and my daughter who was 4 at the time actually had her picture taken with Darth Vader! Not afraid at all. What a combination, Star Wars and Disney! Best of both worlds.

Disney Enthusiast, Ill be working on my hubby for the DVC. You seem to be where I want to be real soon. Just to know that a Disney trip is somewhere on the horizon gives you something to look forward to in our busy lives. Do you plan on going every year or every other year? I can see us saying every other but from what I'm hearing from fellow DVC'ers it turns into every year real fast.
When you stayed, did not having fresh towels every day and no daily maid service become a problem at any point? How often did you utilize the washing machine? We have always stayed in a regular hotel room and I wonder if my hubby will balk at this? I can here him saying "we payed how much for this and we don't even get fresh towels everyday?" He's spoiled, what can I say.
How about transportation? Did you wish that you had rented a car? We have been to WDW twice and except for the ferry to the MK the transpotation was mediocre. Too many stops and getting to DTD was awful from WL.
Oh well, can't wait for that welcome home!

 

[gopherit]

Originally posted by Degli
Do you plan on going every year or every other year? I can see us saying every other but from what I'm hearing from fellow DVC'ers it turns into every year real fast.

Well, then I guess our family is in the minority, because we do the every-other-year routine fairly well! Our schedules (and logistics from WDW) don't really permit short, frequent trips. THat's not to say I wouldn't LOVE to go more often, but then again -- I love our long semi-annual trips, too! We usually go for 2 weeks every other year. We drive down (just can't swing 5 plane tickets, and at our airport, one of the connections would be on an 18 seat plane. Ugh. Nearest LARGE airport to allow for direct flight would be 2 hrs drive. Double Ugh.)

My DH is not a "vacationer" -- yet he loves WDW. THere's just something there for everyone. In our case, it helped too that DH is not a real "deluxe accommodations" kind of guy. Don't get me wrong -- he wants quality, DEFINITELY -- but the big frills are not him (if you gave him the choice between room service and my cooking, God bless 'im, he would choose my cooking. Give him the choice between daily housekeeping and a washer/dryer in the room, he'll go for the washer/dryer, hands down. More praactical, he would say -- with the washer/dryer you could get your towels as clean as you want, whenever you want, along with all your clothes, to boot.) So in those regards, DVC really suited him well. THis is not to say DVC accommodations are not "deluxe" -- they are -- but in less of a "turn-down service" way and more of a practical amenities way.

We did not do DVC as an investment in money -- we did it as in investment in time. It assures us that at least once every other year, we will get together as a family somewhere OTHER THAN extended families' homes. (I should note we always bring extra family along for at least part of our trips to join in the fun). And time is more precious than money. Money can be banked, borrowed, won and lost. TIme is much more fixed and to a great extent out of our control. The only way to preserve time is to turn it into a memory -- and if it's a good memory, then it will surely grow in value and last forever. You might say we bought DVC to "save time"!

Good luck in finding the right vacation "investment" for your family! ANd if DVC is the right choice, then I hope a big "welcome home" is in your very near future!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Hi Degli: I am sorry it took me so long to get back to you. My DG 95 yrs old (looks like she's 70) went into the emergency room w/ an intestinal blockage and they found heart trouble. I drove to visit her yesterday w/ Baby Girl thinking the baby would be better than flowers for her. And she was. My grandmother was ecstatic to see us and doing great. Because she is so energetic and healthy, the Docs were able to put her on meds thru an IV and are watching her closely.

Now to your questions. We were visiting WDW once every 2 yrs since we've been married and usually stayed at a Deluxe resort. We checked into DVC a couple times and took the tour feeling we would buy enough pts and bank and borrow to visit once every 2 yrs as we have in the past. We were looking at 150 pts, using 300 every 2 yrs. When we bought we upped it a bit to 200 pts so we could stay in a 1 br. And that is what we bought. After speaking to family and friends we came to the conclusion that we wanted to start going every year rather than wait so long for each vacation making us go like commandos to see everything. So 2 months later, we bought another 100. Definitely get in where you can. It doesn't matter as long as you own the min of 150. Once you are in, then DVC sells itself and your DH will be saying, "Honey, maybe we need a few extra pts to stay those extra couple days." Or, "Maybe we should go again this year rather than skipping it." Until he gets to that point though, you can always use cash for the extra couple nights on the DVC discount which is what we did this past trip where we only had 200 pts and they only had a 1 br to offer using more than 200 pts. I wanted to stay 8 nights and so bought the extra 2 nights. I wouldn't want to do that indefinitely, but at least you are in! You will prob. get the add-on bug and buy more pts later, but I wouldn't worry about that now. And you may not... being like gopherit and going every other year which is still better than not being a part of DVC. So you can't go wrong. I went from dragging my DH away from his work kicking and screaming, to adding on in less than 2 mos. So we took the plunge big time. But when my DH was contemplating the thought of buying more, I got him to say "yes", and literally ran to the phone to call my agent before he could change his mind. So he is not normally like this and I had to take advantage of his good spirits (because of the holidays maybe?).

Did we miss not having HK every day? Certainly not. We have a very tidy and clean house and don't have HK here (not that I wouldn't want it mind you). We use the same towels to dry at least 3 days in a row before switching and washing, so why not while on vacation? Plus, I would rather wipe over the counters and hang up the towels rather than have a stranger coming in to clean up after me. I find myself using the "Do not disturb" sign more often than not for naps and privacy anyway, so DVC works out well for me. I knew when they were coming, I left a tip for them on that day, and we headed out for fun. One day was not a big deal for me. But every day, would be more like a nuisance trying to get our butts out of there before they started and hoping not to run into them when I come back from the pool to shower, change a diaper, get a bottle or nap.

As far as the Washer and Dryer.... I used those a LOT. I may not have used it as much before kids, but now it is a Godsend. For example, it drizzled a bit the first few days and we were able to DRY our wet, chilly clothes. Also, I got soiled twice from birds...YUCK! I was wearing a white T-shirt the one time and I washed it when I got back. You can pack so much less and wear things over again after a washing. Plus, my DD, as adorable and sweet as she is, leaked a couple times and I had to wash her clothes before the stains set in. Her Baby Bunting (the warm thingy you place in their carrier which zips up around them) got dirty and I threw that in the washer and it was ready for the return trip back to PA. It still amazes me how much clothing little ones go thru. You need to pack 3x the amount of clothes for them than you do a grown adult. And ALWAYS have a change of clothes in case of leakage. Who would've thunk! So we must have done 5 or 6 loads at least. I brought my own detergent, although they provided enough for 4 loads and I could have bought more in the general store.

Transportation? I go back and forth w/ that issue. I love renting a car, and the several times we did so, we just drove right up to the gates and parked and walked in to the parks. It is so easy to get around WDW w/ a car.... the signage is really good. It's really great when visiting DTD and BB and restaurants at other resorts. This time, we decided on the adventure to save $. So we didn't rent. We still had a great time and just had to plan a bit more. If you are not going grocery shopping, Mears transportation is wonderful. They pick you up at the airport and drive you right to the resort entrance. We waited only 15 min to catch the van, so we would definitely do that again. We had difficulty getting to the monorail resorts, but we managed. I would have rathered had a car though to cut back on the time it took to reach those destinations. With 2 small kids, and knowing we were staying at SSR next time, there was no need to go to DTD or BB this time. I wanted to try out Jiko's at the AK, but there was no way w/o a car. And I would have had to bring both carseats for the kids because I don't care for the carseats the rentals provide. So I did things a bit closer to the BW, like eat at the World Showcase and such. If you try to tailor your dining out to the location where you are staying, you will do fine w/o a car. But if you want to go to the CG or Jiko's or resort hop one day, then get the car. Just make sure to get one at the airport. One trip 6 yrs back, we rented a car 1/2 way thru the trip, had to go to a hotel in Buena Vista (non Disney hotel) to pick up our rental. We waited in line for 45 min. Then we drove ourselves to the airport and found the rental agency isn't at the airport, but miles away from it. We didn't have enough time to take the car back and then get a ride back to the airport so we paid a security guard $100 to take it back for us. It was a royal pain in the neck. So definitely make sure you are renting from someone who has a lot at the airport, not a shuttle to the airport. The advertisements can be very misleading, getting you to think they have access to the airport. Well, all rentals have access, you want them to be located on airport property. So we'll prob. go back and forth with getting a car or not, but I liked the convenience of Mears and the thought of not having to drive. But I also like the convenience of driving myself 10 min, rather than walking and riding for 30-45 min to get to the Luau or Hoop de Doo, or California Grill. So it really depends on what your plans are that week.

Hope I answered some of your questions. Let me know if you are curious about anything else. I am always happy to talk w/ you about our experiences!

Gopherit: Thanks for getting in touch w/ Degli seeing as I had trouble doing so at first!

 

[Degli]

My husband won't bend on the idea of buying right now. So, I think next time we go I'm gonna definitely rent points and stay at DVC that way. Hopefully he'll see the light. Thanks for all the helpful info. I feel like I know you somehow! It' been fun talking.

 

[gopherit]

Hey Degli, as the ol' saying goes, seeing is believing! I doubt that I OR my DH would have done the "DVC dive" if it weren't for the fact that my sister owns DVC and has treated us to some fantastic stays in a 2 br at OKW! Talk about spoiled -- that was us!

When you go to rent those points, go for a 1 or 2 br... I think they are the real sellers, versus the studios!

Good Luck!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Good point Gopherit!!!!! Seeing is believing!

It was nice talking to you too Degli. I hope you keep in touch w/ all of us here on the boards. I am sure Gopherit agrees w/ me that we'll all be interested about how you make out w/ your DH regarding DVC. And we'll want to here your trip report when you rent! Thanks so much for your questions and input. I hope we talk again soon!