Kids are all grown up - Are you still going to Disney?

[TDC Nala]

Are you buying for the kids, or are you buying for YOU? Will you end up selling if the kids don't want to go anymore? Or will you use it yourselves, to go to WDW or to go elsewhere?

I've never had kids and I use my DVC points constantly.

 

[Andrea T]

Just a different point of view. My son is 11 and up to two years ago we went every year. Now he says, please mom, NO! We did the cruise 3x but now all he wants is a RCI Voyager class ship (ice skating, rock climbing etc) So no, we don't do Disney any longer. But love Hilton Head (hope to clear that wait list for August) , are going to Hawaii for 2 weeks in June, and will probably go to London next year. Maybe not the most economic way to use points but I look at it as a prepaid vacation and have no regrets buying into DVC.

 

[MJTinNH]

No kids here. I bought now so that when I do retire, the cost of the deluxe room is already paid. I will only have to supply travel and food cost. Of course, if my plans to winter in Fl. comes true, I may have to add some points for more frequent get aways!!

 

[anniet]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Now that they're gone, we can actually afford to go. Last time the DS's went they were 19 & 16. It cost a fortune just trying to keep their stomachs from growling. They were like a couple walking dumpsters.

Thanks Viking-

Note to self: Reason number 8,456,78<font size=12>2</font>for me NEVER to have children!

 

[jeanniec]

We started going to WDW in 1972 when our son was just a baby. Bought into DVC in 1994 (best thing we ever did!). Kids have never gotten tired of going there. Now we have the pleasure of taking our grandson with us, too, on one trip a year. The other trips (2 or 3) are adults only. Our next trip is this May with DD (28), DS (33) and DGS (5). We all are counting the days!

 

[Dancind]

My DD is almost 13, we joined three years ago. We've done several family trips, and twice it's been just DD and I. We don't get to go this summer for our "annual" trip because we're going on the 10 day cruise at Christmas, and we're both a little sad about missing WDW. At home it's school, homework, work, dance activities, all the other things we have to do. At WDW, we connect. We're just plain spending time together, having fun. She still wants to go, you bet. I can see some trips with just DH and I when she's off to college, but I know there will be many more family trips to enjoy in the meantime. Diana

 

[bus driver lady]

As a matter of fact, we just bought DVC and son is 15. There is no question we will all enjoy the full 50 years at SSR and other DVC resorts. Whether it be all three of us, an occasional friend along for DS, grandma & grandpa, DS's future family (DIL and grandchildren), other family members, and friends. And, like many, DH and I are also looking forward to many "alone" trips which have been way too infrequent until now. Can't ever see being bored and we'll definitely get our money's worth in memories.

Suzy

 

[wdwsos]

Originally posted by dvcreg
It's hard to explain this. A DVC stay is different from just staying at a resort. It becomes your vacation home, one that you look forward to going to year after year.

We joined at the start of DVC. Our kids were 11, 10 and 7 at the time. They'll be 23, 21 and 19 when we meet up for another great vacation in May. They have never stopped loving it. (What's hard is coordinating schedules at this point. )

It becomes so much more than a vacation. It becomes a family tradition. Their age doesn't matter, it's being together, laughing over past memories and creating new ones that counts.

Very well said!

My boys are 21, 18 and 16 and still love to go, but we also take trips without them. My 18-year-old just told me he's planning to get married at WDW (oh, please..not too soon!), and my 16-year-old writes the teen column for the All Ears newsletter. He's pretty annoyed with me because I've taken 10 trips in the past few years without him.

As Regina said, it's being together than matters. As they get older, that time becomes all the more precious, and the DVC helps us make that time together happen.

Dotti

 

[jarestel]

Definitely worth it. Pre-DVC we took our children, but now we're having a ball taking our grandchildren. ( and a few private trips as well! ) We love being at WDW with our grandchildren and hopefully will be able to bring our great-grandchildren also one day! Remember, it's not over when your children grow up as they will have children too!

 

[NancyDVC]

I don't have any kids and neither does my best friend and we bought DVC 12 years ago. It is the best thing we ever did.
Here we are 2 mature women who go to WDW at least once a year, are cruising on the Magic this September (and taking my 78 year old mother with us) and have been able to take my family (8 in all) to WDW several times.
We have stayed at VB and HH and The Plaza in NYC on points. My nieces and nephew plan on inheriting my DVC when I die but I keep telling them that I plan my last trip when my DVC ends when I am 92!!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

My youngest is 27 and we go twice a year. WDW is NOT just for kids. Regret the purchase, NEVER.

 

[tiffany123]

Our kids were gone and married by the time we bought DVC. We've been members for over 2 years now. We plan on going by ourselves or with friends and family for years to come. There are so many things to do at WDW and in the Orlando area. Theme parks are only a small part of the attraction of DVC. I can see us staying at one of the DVC resorts and never entering a WDW theme park.

 

[Kelly Nelly]

Forget the Kids, I bought DVC for myself.

 

[Deemarch]

Agreed, Kelly Nelly! We bought for us!! First trip home this Christmas (and the first time we will be in WDW for Christmas!) Have plans in my mental queue for May '05 & Oct. '05. We'd like to get a chance to try all of the resorts!!

Oh, by the way, WE are the kids!!!

 

[Disney Doll]

My friend says (in a tongue-in-cheek fashion) "Disney is no place for kids".

Actually, DH and I have never had children, an we have gone at least twice a year for the last 12 years. We have been therw with frineds and their children, whic is a lot of fun, and we have beent here without. It is a completely different place without kids than it is with them.

You can walk the Boardwalk at night, you can go to Jellyrolls, oyu can go to PI and catch a later show at the Comedy Club. You can catch a show at The Adventurers Club. You can "drink your way around the world" in Epcot, and meander around, and not necessarily have to be running form attraction to attraction. You can relax poolside, you can rent a boat.

We have 430 points total, and wish we had more!

 

[Barb]

Our kids are grown and we bought just two years ago for us! The kids will benefit from the purchase, but we did it for us, first.

 

[JimC]

We bought into DVC for the adult kids as well

 

[Cruelladeville]

What?!!! You get to go to Disney without kids?!! I'm doing something wrong, because I have only been alone with my DH ONCE--I thought it was a fluke! DDs are now 27 and 24, and just wonderful, but they think any trip to Florida automatically includes them, since Mom and Dad would NEVER know what to do without them! They were practically born in Disney, so I guess that's why they still like going.

Both DDs are part of a group of "Kids of DVC members" who scrounge extra points from their parents, and then go to Florida on the proceeds. One of them is a career college student whose parents gave him 116 points if he would PLEASE graduate--so he is, and the group is heading south in Sept for a week's vacation! It's my turn to cough up the points next year when my career student finally decides to graduate with 4 majors!

 

[rocketriter]

We went to WDW several times before we had kids! Here's the story.

When we first got married, I told my wife I'd like to travel and she made a long face. It turns out that her family's idea of travel had been to drive all day to West Overshoe and then spend a week at Uncle Schloimie's house. The kids would sit in the den and watch TV and get bored, while the parents yakked in the living room. One day everyone would pile into the car and Uncle Schloimie would take them sightseeing. "Here's the library, there's city hall . . ." without ever stopping or getting out of the car. Finally they'd drive home. No wonder my wife made a long face!

Knowing this, I arranged our first trip to the Poly about 1989. This was about 5 years before our first child was born. My wife was amazed that travel could be this much fun! I knew she was hooked when, at 11:30 PM on the last night, she suddenly got dressed and left the room. After midnight, wondering what was going on, I also got up and walked around the resort looking for her. I found her at the last open sundries shop, cruising the shelves, not buying anything, just trying to prolong the experience for a few extra minutes. That's when I knew she was hooked.

Since there we've traveled everywhere—and now we're also DVC members. Uncle Schloimie gets our New Year's cards, but not our travel weeks!

 

[Bugeye]

Heck, my daughter is 31 and is chomping at the bit to get back to the World with her family. My 35 year old son just bought into SSR and the youngest (30) has annual passes because he lives in Tampa. I don't think they ever grew out of it.